§ 38. Mr. KINGasked the Parliamentary Secretary of the Board of Agriculture whether any statistics have been compiled of the number of deer parks in England and Wales, the number of head of deer therein maintained, the acreage of grass land required for deer, and the amount of forage supplied to them in the course of the year, the number of horned cattle or sheep which could be supported if the deer were removed, and the cost or loss in the national home-grown food supply by the maintenance of such deer parks; and whether steps are being taken to urge that the national supply of meat and milk be increased by the restriction of merely ornamental animals?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD Of AGRICULTURE (Mr. Harry Verney)No statistics on this subject are available, and a Return could not be collected without imposing much extra labour upon a division of the Board which is at present working under very severe pressure. I hope, therefore, that my hon. Friend will not press for it. I know at least one owner of a deer park who is slaughtering his merely ornamental animals.