§ Sir J. Gilmourasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the average time taken in the sampling of fields for testing the presence of potato root eel-worm, between receipt of the application form by his Department and the result being notified to the applicant.
§ Mr. RossIt is not feasible to give an average time. The general aim is to notify results to farmers in good time before planting. The time taken to deal with individual applications varies according to the circumstances, including weather conditions prevailing at the time of application. Prolonged periods of frost or snow which hinder the taking of samples from time to time give rise to considerable delays. In 1965–66 additional difficulty arose out of exceptional demands on inspecting staff in connection with the export of ware potatoes to Europe.