§ Sir C. MORRISON-BELLasked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of the difficulty experienced by many smallholders in carrying on; whether these have to any extent taken advantage of the Agricultural Credits Act; and what is the aggregate sum advanced to them hitherto?
§ Mr. BUXTONAs was stated in reply to the hon. Member on the 16th April, the present position of the statutory smallholder is, on the whole, satisfactory, although I am aware that they have been faced with adverse conditions during the preceding years; as regards the last part of the question, I regret that up to the present smallholders have not availed themselves of the facilities provided by Section 2 of the Agricultural Credits Act, 1923. Three credit societies have been registered, but none of these have yet made application to the Ministry for advances.