§ Mr. Gallacherasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that farmers and cattle-breeders in Scotland are experiencing great difficulty in obtaining straight feeding-cakes such as linseed, ground-nut, and cotton-cakes, and that instead all they can obtain are compound cakes at considerably greater cost; and whether any steps are being taken to supply farmers direct with ingredients for feeding mixtures which they would be able to prepare themselves?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydEvery effort is being made to ensure that the various kinds of cattle cake will be available in their pre-war proportions, but owing to war conditions it is not possible to guarantee that these proportions will always be maintained. The seed crushers who manufacture compound cakes are producing approximately the same proportion of straight cakes as before the war. Imported cakes are being released in fixed proportions for straight feeding and for sale for compounding. I am aware that there is a temporary shortage of the cakes mentioned in the Question, but the supplies of copra and palm kernel cakes are greater than normal.