§ 61. Mr. HURDasked the Minister of Agriculture if he can give an estimate of the increased consumption of liquid milk in London in gallons and percentages in the past five years, allowance being made for any increase in the population; and what educational and other means are being taken to increase this consumption in the interests of public health and agriculture?
§ Mr. GUINNESSAs the reply is rather long and contains a number of figures, I propose, with my hon. Friend's permission, to circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ In the half-yearly report of the National Milk Publicity Council the following figures are given, compiled from statistics rendered by the four principal railway companies for milk brought into London by rail.
| Year ending30th June | Number of gallons. | Per cent. increase since 1923 |
| Millions. | ||
| 1923 | 72 | — |
| 1924 | 77 | 7 |
| 1925 | 99 | 37 |
| 1926 | 107 | 48 |
| 1927 | 117 | 62 |
§ It is further estimated that at least five million gallons per annum are brought into London by road. The average increase in the population of Greater London over the period has been less than 50,000 per annum, that is, less than 1 per cent.
§ The question of educational and other steps to increase the consumption of milk is dealt with at some length in a Report on the Fluid Milk Market which is to be issued in a few days as No. 16 of the Economic Series. Briefly it may be said that up to the present such action has 625 been limited to the steps taken by the National Milk Publicity Council, which is maintained by voluntary contributions from farmers, manufacturers and distributors.