§ 80. Sir WALTER ESSEXasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether he is aware that hundreds of areas in Staffordshire have been scheduled by the Board of Agriculture as areas infected with Synchytrium endobioticum and that deliveries of seed varieties resistant to this disease are being held up in Belfast owing to shippers refusing to accept them as cargo; whether a total loss of potato crops in many districts may result if an early delivery is not speedily made possible; and what steps are the Board of Agriculture taking to facilitate the rapid distribution to growers in infected areas of immune seed potatoes?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the BOARD of AGRICULTURE (Mr. Acland)Yes, Sir, a large district in Staffordshire has been scheduled under the Wart Disease of Potatoes Orders, but inasmuch as most of the 2260 seed of immune varieties comes from Scotland and other parts of England, a serious loss of the potato crop in this district is not anticipated because of any shortage of supplies from Ireland. Only one complaint of difficulty in shipping seed from Ireland has come before the Department, but if my hon. Friend knows of any other cases and will send me the particulars I will gladly have them looked into with a view to any avoidable difficulty being removed. The Board have done and are doing all that is possible to facilitate the delivery of seed from Scotland both by rail and sea.
§ Sir W. ESSEXCan the right hon. Gentleman say what he has done in regard to Belfast to liberate the large amount of seed potatoes that lies there?
§ Mr. ACLAND (was understood to say)The statement that seed potatoes in large quantities is being held up in Ireland is not well founded.