§ Mr. Luceasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest evidence about the extent of the Dutch elm disease; and what action he is taking to help alleviate this problem.
§ Mr. StrangThe results of the Forestry Commission's 1975 survey will not be 271W available until later in the year but it is already clear that the disease has continued to increase in the south of England, the Midlands and parts of Wales, where last autumn it was estimated that 4½million elm trees had died. There is no known cure for the disease and no realistic means of containing it in the badly affected areas. The Dutch Elm Disease (Restriction on Movement of Diseased Elms) Order 1974 (S.I. 1974/767) and the Dutch Elm Disease (Local Authority) Order 1974 (S.I. 1974/830) have been introduced to help reduce the further spread of the disease to and within lightly affected parts of the country. The Forestry Commission is concentrating its research on protective measures for trees of high amenity value and on the selection of resistant cultivars of elm.