asked the Minister of Agriculture if he has any figures showing whether the adoption of the national mark for strawberries has been justified by marketing results; and what proportion of English strawberries marketed last season were sold under the national mark?

The national mark scheme for strawberries was introduced experimentally during the past season, and 94 growers were authorised to apply the mark to their standardised packs of fruit. I am advised that the results were generally satisfactory. No figures are available, but the proportion of the total crop packed under the mark in the first season was, of course, small.