§ 52. Viscount SANDONasked the Minister of Agriculture whether, in view of the fact that the Ministry, the co-operative interest, and the wholesale and retail federations all agreed to a grading scheme for marketing potatoes under the national mark, he will state what were the obstacles preventing its fruition?
Mr. GUINNESSThe scheme to which my Noble Friend refers was deferred on account of the difficulty experienced in reconciling, within the short time available, the divergent views of the growers who are, of course, chiefly concerned, on various points both of principle and detail. I may add that discussions have been resumed between the National Farmers' Union and the -Ministry's officers, and there is every hope of an agreed scheme maturing for next season's crop.
§ Viscount SANDONIs it not a fact that the growers as represented by the National Farmers' Union agreed in the first place to these recommendations?
Mr. GUINNESSThe growers m certain parts of the country were in favour of the scheme, but in other districts they raised objections. It was impossible to bring the scheme into effect unless the growers as a whole were content with its provisions.