Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can make a statement as regards the methods employed by his Department to co-operate with the Ministry of Supply in the allocation of superphosphates to growers of sugar-beet and other essential foodstuffs, since in Worcestershire and other parts of the country many of the recognised suppliers have not been made familiar with the modus operandi of the scheme which has been communicated to the county war agricultural committees throughout the country?
Mr. HudsonMy hon. Friend possibly has in mind an arrangement made last January whereby limited quantities of superphosphate were earmarked as county reserves. This arrangement was fully explained to suppliers at the time and has worked satisfactorily. No other special procedure for allocating superphosphate is in operation, and in any case the reserves available for use this spring are practically all exhausted and the productive capacity of manufacturers of superphosphate and compounds is fully occupied in complying with outstanding orders for delivery before the end of April.