HC Deb 16 May 1938 vol 336 cc19-20
33. Mr. De la Bère

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will take steps to prevent day- or week-old cockerels from hatcheries being sold as pullet chicks?

Mr. W. S. Morrison

I have no power to take any steps to prevent sales of this kind. I am advised that the law provides adequate remedies for a purchaser who is aggrieved by any such sale.

Mr. De la Bère

Is my right hon. Friend aware of how very prevalent this practice is, and is he aware that the female of the species is far more valuable than the male?

Mr. Morrison

I have received on complaints of that kind, but complaints have been made to me that day-old chicks which are sold as hatched, frequently contain an undue preponderance of one sex or the other.

35. Sir Percy Hurd

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether, and, if so, when, he proposes to call a conference of those concerned in the poultry industry, to bring their discussions to the point of evolving an acceptable egg-marketing scheme?

Mr. W. S. Morrison

Consultations have recently been held with bodies representative of egg producers and distributors, respectively, and satisfactory progress has been made. A joint conference may be desirable at a later stage, but I am unable to make any further statement at present.

Sir P. Hurd

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the difficulty which has been created in the poultry industry by the long period of the discussions; and is it possible to expedite the matter?

Mr. Morrison

I hope to be able to make a statement on this matter as soon as possible.

Mr. Henderson Stewart

Are we to understand that these negotiations will include poultry keepers in Scotland?

Mr. Morrison

I will consider that. It includes also a great section of the distributive trade and other bodies who have been consulted.

Mr. Macquisten

Will the scheme provide that the poultry men in Cowal are to send their eggs across the Clyde to Greenock to a central store and that the eggs are to be re-issued and sent back across the Clyde again to the shopkeepers there, as was provided in the first scheme, or will they be left their freedom to sell to their own customers, who know them and trust their eggs?