§ 131. Mr. John Morrisonasked the President of the Board of Trade why esparto grass is being imported into this country for paper making; and why surplus straw in this country is not being used for this purpose, in order to save foreign exchange and benefit British farmers.
§ Mr. BelcherEsparto has advantages for the production of certain papers and its use involves a smaller consumption of coal. As far as possible the choice between home produced straw and esparto from North Africa within the supplies available is left to the paper makers.