§ 60. Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Agriculture if he is aware of the large reduction in the orders for seed potatoes this year from British merchants for home planting; and what response there has been to the appeal from Agricultural Executive Committees to farmers asking them to grow sufficient to hit the target of 1,400,000 acres at an average yield of 7.1 tons per acre.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsI am aware that deliveries of seed potatoes into England and Wales this year from the rest of the United Kingdom and Eire are some 12 per cent. less than at the same time last year. A recent inquiry of county agricultural executive committees indicates that according to farmers' present intentions the acreage planted with potatoes in England and Wales may fall short of the 1949 target by about 5 per cent. County committees are urging farmers to increase their potato acreage where necessary to 113W make up this deficiency and also, in their own interests, to order their seed potatoes and accept delivery as soon as possible.