§ LORD DAVIESMy Lords, I beg to ask the third question standing in my name.
§ [The question was as follows:
§ To ask His Majesty's Government what arrangements have been made for the marketing of any surplus of perishable garden and allotment produce during the coming season.]
THE DUKE OF NORFOLKMy Lords, my right honourable friend's policy for production from allotments and gardens is not to encourage the growing of vegetables indiscriminately but to urge upon occupiers to plan their cropping so as to secure a supply of fresh or stored vegetables for as many months of the year as possible, avoiding the production of a surplus of perishable crops during the summer months. In view of transport and other 651 difficulties it is impossible to contemplate the collection and disposal of relatively small quantities of mixed lots of perishable produce. County garden produce committees are, however, actively forming village produce associations, the functions of which are to make each village self-supporting in produce from allotments and gardens, to arrange for communal storage of vegetables, and to organize the disposal of surpluses of non-perishable produce through wholesalers, retailers and village stalls or by sales direct to communal feeding centres, hospitals, schools, school camps or otherwise.