§ 63. Mr. Spenceasked the Minister of Food what price per dozen was paid by his Department for eggs for the years 1948, 1949 and 1950; and what was the average price of poultry feedingstuffs per ton for the same years.
§ Mr. F. Willey(1) Prices to be paid to producers in the United Kingdom for hen and duck eggs sent to the licensed egg-packing stations are fixed under the Agriculture Act, 1947. The following are the prices fixed for the financial years 1948–49, 1949–50 and 1950–51:
(a) First Quality Hen eggs
1948–49—A flat price of 4s Per dozen eggs (40s. per 120 eggs) throughout the year.
1949–50—An average price of 4s. 1d. per dozen eggs (40s. 10d. per 120 eggs) with seasonal prices calculated to yield this average. The following are the seasonal prices fixed:
Per 120 eggs. s. d. 31st March, 1949, to 21st September, 1949 37 6 22nd September, 1949 to 19th October, 1949 50 0 20th October, 1949, to 18th January, 1950 55 0 19th January, 1950, to 15th February, 1950 50 0 16th February, 1950, to 29th March, 1950 37 6 1950–51—An average price of 4s. 1d. per dozen eggs (40s. 10d. per 120 eggs) with seasonal prices calculated to yield this average. The following are the seasonal prices fixed:
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Per 120 eggs. s. d. 30th March, 1950, to 23rd August, 1950 37 6 24th August, 1950, to 20th September, 1950 45 0 21st September, 1950, to 20th December, 1950 50 0 21st December, 1950, to 28th February, 1951 45 0 1st March, 1951, to 28th March, 1951 35 0 (b) First Quality Duck eggs
1948–49—A flat price of 40s. per 120 eggs throughout the year.
1949–50—An average price of 4s. 1d. per dozen eggs (40s. 10d. per 120 eggs) with seasonal prices as for first quality hen eggs.
1950–51—Seasonal prices as follows fixed:
Per 120 eggs. s. d. 30th March, 1950, to 19th April, 1950 37 6 20th April, 1950, to 23rd August, 1950 34 2 24th August, 1950, to 20th September, 1950 41 8 21st September, 1950, to 20th December, 1950 46 8 21st December, 1950, to 28th February, 1951 41 8 1st March, 1951, to 28th March, 1951 31 8 (c) Second Quality and Dirty eggs (Hen and Duck)
Prices for second-quality and dirty hen and duck eggs were as in (a) and (b) above subject to deductions as follows:
Great Britain
1st April, 1948 to 17 May, 1950—½d. for each such egg.
18th May, 1950, to 28th March, 1951— 1d. for each such egg
Northern Ireland
1st April, 1948, to 28th March, 1951— 1½d. for each such egg.
(2) The average prices paid by poultry keepers for poultry feedingstuffs were about as follows:
per ton. £ s. 1948 19 0 1949 24 10 1950 30 0