§ Mr. LESLIE SCOTTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture whether he will ascertain if within the last month the Isle of Ely County Council paid £80 an acre for a 250-acre farm for small holdings although more than half the land is strong clay unsuitable for small holdings, and none of the land is first-class fen soil; and whether the outside market value to-day is under £50 an acre?
Sir A.BOSCAWENThe Board are aware that the Isle of Ely County76W Council have agreed to purchase a farm of 200 acres at the price of £80 an acre. The Board are advised by their Commissioner for the district that the whole of the farm is ideal land for the purpose of small holdings, and that the soil consists of black fen. The farm is in a high state of cultivation, and the Board are advised that the purchase price is not in excess of the present market value. Another farm of 255 acres, to which the hon. and learned Member probably refers, was considered by the county council, but they decided not to purchase the property.