§ 69. Mrs. PHILIPSONasked the Minister of Agriculture what is the information in detail upon which the statement is made in the current number of the Official Journal of the Ministry (page 132x) that, as regards the number of cases of public insolvency occurring amongst farmers, the pasture areas have suffered more than the arable areas; what are the areas to which he refers; what is the number of the insolvent farmers and the years; and whether, in point of fact, the Ministry, or the author of the statement, in arriving at the above conclusion, was aware of the actual character of the farming operations carried on by the said insolvent farmers?
§ Mr. BUXTONI am informed by the author of the article, who is solely responsible for the views expressed therein, that the statement referred to by the hon. Member is based on the geographical distribution of the receiving orders in bankruptcy in the case of farmers in 1922. The number of receiving orders was 287. Of these cases 108, or 37 per cent. only, were in the Eastern half of England, which, on the whole, is more distinctively arable than the Western half. With regard to the last part of the question, the records of public insolvencies do not include any information as to the character of the farming.