Mr. Guestasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has been drawn to the still existing shortage of supplies of fertilisers in Wales; what is the reason for this shortage and when he anticipates the supply will be equal to the demand?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithI am not aware that there is any shortage of fertilisers generally in Wales. If my hon. Friend's question is intended to refer to supplies of basic slag under the Land Fertility Scheme, the position in the current fer- 1597W tiliser season is slightly more favourable than it was last season, 33,000 tons having been delivered up to and including nth March, 1939, as compared with 32,000 tons in the corresponding period of last season. Supplies of basic slag are, of course, dependent on the output of certain kinds of steel of which it is a by product, and there is reason to anticipate that increased supplies of slag will shortly be available as a result of the increased production of steel.