asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he can form any estimate of the total imports of fresh asparagus into Great Britain in 1929; what relation these imports bear to the home-produced article; at what dates imported and home-grown asparagus in bulk, respectively, reached the home market; and what were the average prices ruling at these dates?
I regret I am unable to give an estimate of the total imports of fresh asparagus or of the home production. I understand, however, that the bulk of the imported asparagus is on the market from April to June, and the home crop from May to July. Owing to the differences in the varieties of asparagus sold and the diversity of the sizes of the bundles, it is not possible to give an average price covering either the imported or home-produced article, but I am sending the hon. Member a tabular statement summarising particulars of certain prices reported to the Ministry during the season.
| Statement showing the Monthly Average Prices, per bundle, of Home-grown and Imported Asparagus ruling at certain selected wholesale markets during the 1929 season.* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Month. | Home-grown. | Imported. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Essex. | Worcester Ordinary. | Worcester Special. | Devon. | Lauris. | Paris Green. | Cavaillon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | 1st quality. | 2nd quality. | ||||||||||||||||||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | ||||
| January | … | … | … | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | ||||||
| February | … | … | … | 7 | 0 | 3 | 9 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 4 | ||||
| March | … | … | … | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | ||||
| April | … | … | … | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||
| May | … | … | … | — | — | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 5 | — | — | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11¾ | ||||||
| June | … | … | … | — | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 10½ | 0 | 8 | ||||||||
| July | … | … | … | — | — | 4 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
* The 1929 season has been taken as the period January-July. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE.—While all the above prices are per bundle, it should be borne in mind that the size of the bundles varies considerably as between the various markets and at different times of the year (according to the quantity available). In some instances, therefore, the prices are not strictly comparable. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||