19. Mr. FOOT MITCHELLasked the Minister of Agriculture the decline in the number of pigs in this country from the total of 1924 to that of 1925, and indicate the reasons assigned by the Department for it?
Mr. GUINNESSThe number of pigs on agricultural holdings in England and Wales as returned on 4th June, 1925, was 2,644,356, as compared with 3,228,330 a year earlier, a reduction of 583,974. This 11 reduction is attributed to the very low prices realised for fat pigs during 1924, as a result of the large numbers of pigs in that year, not only in this country but in Canada, Denmark and the United States. I may mention that the number of pigs in England and Wales in 1924 was by far the largest ever recorded, and that the number in 1925 was appreciably above the average of previous years.