§ Major NEWMANasked the President of the Board of Agriculture whether he will inquire into the delay experienced by the Southgate Urban District Council in getting the supply of seed potatoes they require for allotment holders in their district; and will he inquire if a small portion of seed potatoes that were lately sent to Southgate from Scotland and arrived in a bad condition and frost-bitten was the result of careless packing?
§ Sir R. WINFREYHaving regard to the fact that the seed potatoes ordered on behalf of war agricultural committees are-almost exclusively of main crop varieties, which may be planted during the month of April, and that the severe weather experienced during the past two months has necessarily hindered the loading of seed by Scottish growers, the Board do not think that undue delay has as yet occurred in the execution of the orders of public authorities generally, or of that of the-Middlesex War Agricultural Committee, in which the order of the Southgate Urban District Council is included. The Board are fully alive to the importance of securing delivery of the seed in time for successful planting, and they are doing everything possible to expedite transport. A communication regarding the procedure to be followed in the case of consignment injured by frost has already been sent to public authorities, who have notified the Board of such injury.