§ 59. Mr. Philips Priceasked the Minister of Agriculture what information he has about the acreage which farmers propose to allocate for potatoes for the coming season.
Mr. T. WilliamsAn inquiry of the county agricultural executive committees in January suggested that the potato acreage in England and Wales might fall short of the target by about 5 per cent. Since then deliveries of seed potatoes from Scotland and Ireland to English merchants—which give a rough indication of prospective acreage—have improved and are now up to the total for the same date last year.
§ Mr. Philips PriceIs the Minister aware that the difficulty of disposing of this year's crop of ware potatoes may militate against the planting of the desired acreage this year; and will he take steps to assure farmers that if they do grow the required acreage they will be disposed of this year better than they were last year?
Mr. WilliamsWe not only give that guarantee, but the price they shall receive has already been fixed.