§ Captain ERSKINE-BOLSTasked the Minister of Agriculture if his statistics show the cost of producing a dozen eggs at the present time; and what relation this cost bears to the wholesale prices obtained for such eggs?
§ Mr. ELLIOTThe answer to the first part of the question is in the negative. The cost of production of eggs varies so considerably according to the personal capacity of the individual poultry farmer, the circumstances of the farm, the strain of hens kept and the period of the year, that it is impossible to supply precise information on this subject. Moreover, even in the case of transactions where all the information is available, a comparison of costs of production and prices during any short period of time may be misleading owing to the seasonal variation of costs and prices.