§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)I beg to ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether his attention has been called to the fact that the estimated average yield, per acre, of hay from permanent grass, in the north-western counties of Lancaster and Westmoreland, is more than double that of some other English counties, and 50 per cent. above the average yield of all English counties; whether the crop is estimated in the same manner and the aftermath excluded in all cases; and, if so, whether the higher yield in the north-western districts is due to a different system of farming or heavier rainfall.
§ THE UNDER - SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. HERBERT SAMUEL,) (for Sir Edward Strachey) Yorkshire, ClevelandThe average yield per acre of hay in Lancashire and Westmoreland is, as my hon. friend points out, very much heavier than in other parts of the country, and we are advised that this is mainly due to a larger and more equable rainfall. It is probable, however, that the comparative absence of stiff clays and poor sands in the north-western counties and the configuration of the surface of the country are also contributory causes. The estimates of crops are collected on the same system all over Great Britain, and the estimators are expressly instructed to take second crops of hay into account.