§ 63. Mr. Turtonasked the Minister of Agriculture what quantity of surplus machinery has been sold by county agricultural executive committees during the past 12 months; how much has been sold by public auction and how much by 158W private negotiation; and what have been the respective amounts raised by the two methods of disposal.
§ Mr. G. BrownA total of 3,000 agricultural tractors and 11,300 implements of various types. Of these 2,300 tractors and 7,860 implements were sold by committees by public auctions for £260,000. One hundred and thirty-two tractors and 1,200 implements were sold for £78,000 to agricultural contractors who had previously been hiring them. The remainder were sold by the Ministry to agricultural machinery manufacturers and dealers for £74,000.