§ Sir G. Foxasked the Minister of Agriculture how many acres of the 700,000 which have so far been ploughed have been ploughed by steam-ploughing sets; how many Fordson tractors and how many caterpillar tractors the Government have purchased since the beginning of the war, respectively; how many are in use now; and whether he is satisfied that the steam-ploughing sets of the country are being used to their fullest possible organised extent?
§ Sir R. Dorman-SmithUnder the Agreement made with the Ford Motor Company in June last, delivery has now been taken of about 1,400 Fordson tractors. Of this total, no have been sent to Scotland and the remainder have been supplied to County War Agricultural Executive Committees in England and Wales. All these tractors will be in use as soon as the state of the land permits. Orders have recently been placed for 50 track-laying tractors, and these machines should be in the hands of Committees in the next few days. In addition 10,000 tractors have been purchased by farmers themselves since the outbreak of war and it is estimated that 60,000 tractors are now available in England and Wales for agricultural work. I have no information as to the acreage ploughed this season by steam ploughing sets, but from such information as is available it seems doubtful whether these sets have been in full use.