§ MR. MENZIES (Lanarkshire, S.)To ask the hon. Member for South Somerset, as representing the President of the Board of Agriculture, if he can state what proportion the food imports into the United Kingdom in 1906, consisting of wheat and wheat flour, meat and dairy produce, bear, in quantity and value, to the total consumption of these articles by the people in that year; what are the relative figures for the United States. Germany, and France; what was the quantity and value of all the wheat and wheat flour imported from British Possessions and Foreign Countries respectively in that year; and what was the amount grown in the United Kingdom and used for food by the people.
(Answered by Sir Edward Strachey.) In 1906 the imports of wheat and wheat flour into the United Kingdom were 78 per cent. of the total supply. In Germany the imports in 1905 (the latest year for which Returns are available) were 35 per cent., and in France, in 1906, 3 per cent. of the total supply. It is not possible to state precisely what proportion of the total supply was directly consumed by the people, but the deduction for seed and for use other than for bread-making is comparatively small. No official Returns of the Home supply of meat or dairy produce are available, but accepting the best available estimates it may be calculated that in the United Kingdom in 1906 imported supplies were of meat about 47 per cent., of butter 57 per cent., and of cheese 61 per cent., of the total consumption. For France the 1092 latest Returns relate to 1892, and in that year the imports of meat were 3 per cent., and of cheese 5 per cent., of the total supply. Of butter there was a surplus exported. In Germany in 1905 the imports of meat were 11 per cent. of the total consumption, but the figures in this case include lard, which is not included in the other cases. No figures are available for the German production of butter and cheese. The United States has a considerable exportation of all these commodities. It is not practicable to give accurate comparative figures of values. The imports of wheat and wheat flour into the United Kingdom in 1906 were:—
The quantity of wheat grown in the United Kingdom in 1906 was 32,474,164 cwts., of which probably from 85 to 90 per cent. was directly used for food by the people.
Cwts. Value. From British Possessions 35,077,861 £12,352,917 From Foreign Countries 77,598,089 £27,140,481