§ Sir A. Baillieasked the Minister of Agriculture what percentage of the harvest has been carried and what lessons have been learned in regard to the utilisation of outside labour?
Mr. HudsonOver most of the country, including the main corn growing districts, the whole of the corn harvest has been carried in good condition, but in the north and west of England and in Wales some proportion of the crop—small in most cases—is still out. This is due almost entirely to weather conditions and not to shortage of labour. While the major part of the important potato and sugar beet harvests has still to be gathered it would be premature to make any statement about the lessons that have been learned in regard to the utilisation of outside labour. My Department will, however, be receiving reports from county war agricultural executive committees about the organisation of labour in their counties this year, and these will be studied and discussed with the committees so that we may again profit from the year's experience.