§ 20. Sir B. Neven-Spenceasked the President of the Board of Trade how many standards of timber are available for barrel making in Creat Britain between now and the end of March.
§ Sir S. CrippsI assume that the hon. Member's Question relates to timber such as is normally used for making herring barrels. I understand that 200 standards have so far been licensed for this purpose 67W by the Ministry of Food during the present quarter and that further quantities will be licensed. Timber of suitable specification for this purpose is, however, also needed for other essential purposes and it is not, therefore, possible to state exactly how much will be available for barrel making. Supplies are normally obtained from Sweden but in view of the serious shortage the Board of Trade have recently arranged for the import of about 130 standards of suitable Canadian timber during the present quarter.