§ Colonel WARDE (Kent, Medway)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, whether he can state the acreage of gooseberry plantations in England; the approximate acreage affected by the American gooseberry mildew; and in what counties the disease is known to exist.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) The Board are unable to state the acreage
§ for Canada, for other British Colonies, and for Foreign countries, respectively.
§ (Answered by Mr. Lloyd George.) The following statement gives the information desired by my hon. friend:—
§ under gooseberries alone, but 24,179 acres were returned as being under gooseberries and currants combined in 1907. The counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (parts of Holland), Norfolk, the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire are affected with American gooseberry mildew. Information as to the acreage affected is being obtained, and I will acquaint the hon. and gallant Member with the result.