HC Deb 26 October 1916 vol 86 cc1307-8
124. Captain C. BATHURST

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether the official figures of the Board of Agriculture for 1916 show that the general wheat average for Great Britain stands at only 88.8 per cent. of a full crop and the yield at 31 bushels per acre, as compared with 93 per cent. and nearly 33 bushels, respectively, as the average for the previous decade?

Mr. ACLAND

The figures quoted by the hon. and gallant Member are not official, nor, so far as official figures are available for comparison, do they agree with them. The only complete figures of the wheat crop of the present year which are available are those of acreage, and they show an excess of 141,103 acres (nearly 7.7 per cent.) above the average for the ten years 1906–1915. The official average yield for that decade is 32.15 bushels per acre, and not nearly 33 as stated; that for the present year cannot be stated until the detailed returns furnished by the Board's crop reporters have all been received and summarised. It is hoped that their full tabulation will be completed very shortly. The forecast published in September indicated a yield per acre about 3 or 4 per cent. below average.