HC Deb 26 February 1918 vol 103 c1239
53. Mr. FIELD

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) the annual quantity of Danish and other butter imported into Ireland for a period of five years preceding the War; and whether any steps are being taken in connection with the tillage scheme to encourage winter dairying in Ireland?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL for IRE-LAND (Mr. Arthur Samuels)

The quantities of butter imported into Ireland during each of the five years mentioned in the question were:

Cwts.
1909 … … … … 68,347
1910 … … … … 77,945
1911 … … … … 88,472
1912 … … … … 65,731
1913 … … … … 71,585

As tillage is the chief factor in winter dairying, the latter cannot be successfully carried out on an adequate scale until tillage becomes a. permanent feature of the farming in dairying districts. The Department of Agriculture have always recognised the importance of establishing winter dairying in connection with Irish agriculture, and steps have been taken to bring the matter under the notice of Irish farmers. It is hoped that one of the beneficial results of the compulsory tillage schemes which have been organised to meet the present emergency will be to secure a permanent increase in the area under tillage, and that in dairying districts this will encourage winter dairying.