§ 43. Mr. COLLISONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport if he will state the rate of railway freights per ton on potatoes from Spalding to King's Cross in the years 1913 and 1922 and 1923, respectively; and if he will give the average wholesale price paid to the grower for the same years?
§ Colonel ASHLEYThe rate for old potatoes in bulk or in sacks, minimum 5 tons per truck, from Spalding to King's Cross by merchandise train, in the latter half of 1913, was 8s. 8d. per ton. In April, 1922, the rate was 18s. 1d. per ton, and at the present time it is 15s. 6d. 268 per ton. On the 1st proximo the rate will be reduced to 13s. 4d. per ton. I am informed by the Ministry of Agriculture that they have no particulars of the price of potatoes at Spalding, but their records show that at Wisbech the average price in 1913 was 64s. a ton; in 1922, 92s. a ton, and in January to March, 1923, 36s. per ton.