§ Mr. T. RICHARDSONasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether his attention has been drawn to cases of dealers who have been refused permits to sell potatoes though they have stocks at their disposal; whether he is aware that in some instances the dealers refused these permits were selling at rates below those charged by some of their competitors; and whether he will say what action he proposes to tale to secure that potatoes will be sold as cheaply as possible to the people?
§ Mr. CLYNESThe answer to the first two parts of the question is in the negative, but I shall be happy to look into the matter if the hon. Member will let me have particulars of the cases which he has in mind. The Potatoes Order, No. 2, 1917, issued on the 12th November was designed to cheapen the cost of potatoes to the consumer and has already had this effect.
ACREAGE, PRODUCTION and YIELD per acre of WHEAT, BARLEY and OATS in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in 1915, 1916 and 1917. — Acreage. Production. Yield per acre. 1915. 1916. 1917. 1915. 1916. 1917. 1915. 1916. 1917. Acres. Acres. Acres. Qrs. Qrs. Qrs. Bshls. Bshls. Bshls. Wheat— England 2,121,519 1,862.211 1,854,870 8,293,269 6,657,781 6,954,184 31.27 28 60 29.99 Wales 48,651 49,997 63,615 171.472 177,627 210,465 28.20 28.42 26.47 Scotland 76,654 63.083 61,072 369,919 283,097 304,000 38.61 35.90 39.82 Ireland 86,530 76,438 124,082 404,695 353,379 570,500 37.42 36.98 36.78 Barley— England 1,151,536 1,244.639 1,364,722 4,229,031 4,849,962 5,198,744 29.38 31.17 30.48 Wales 80,178 87,437 95,166 298,898 330,964 340,770 29.82 30.28 28.65 Scotland 149,346 169,735 159.414 628,131 647,145 705.000 33.65 30.50 35.38 Ireland 141,586 150,063 177,135 706,184 784,479 927,080 39.90 41.82 41.87 Oats— England 1,888,530 1,862.489 2,012,627 9,501,696 9,412,818 9,812,408 40.25 40.43 39.00 Wales 199,479 222,172 246,190 885,211 998,175 1,054,357 35.50 35.94 34.26 Scotland 982,601 990,589 1,040,371 4,885,190 4,527,536 5,447,000 39.77 36.56 41.89 Ireland 1,088,664 1,071,593 1,463,737 7,036,298 6,395,253 9,665,384 51.71 47.74 52.83