asked the Minister of Agriculture how far the current season has shown any exceptional attack by flies on green crops?

The cabbage root fly and the turnip flea-beetle have been very prevalent in some parts of the country this season.

asked the Secretary of State for War what would be the estimated cost per annum if Home Guard officers, travelling on duty, were issued with first-class railway warrants in lieu of third-class, as at present?

I regret that without very considerable labour and research which would hardly be justifiable, it is not possible to estimate the difference between the amount payable to the railways for 3rd class fares for Home Guard officers arid what would be paid for similar journeys at 1st class fares.

asked the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs whether he can give any details of the new cotton mill started in Southern Rhodesia, the anticipated extent and nature of its output and the source from which it draws its cotton?

The Governor of Southern Rhodesia reported last March that a new cotton mill at Catooma was, with machinery then available, producing about 8 tons a month of cotton wool and that it was expected that the production could be raised to about 12 tons a month. Further machinery was being obtained with a view to starting work at the spinning mill itself, which is reported now to have been opened. It is understood that the cotton used is locally grown cotton. No further details are at present available here.

asked the Home Secretary the purpose of the Silicosis and Asbestosis (Medical Arrangements) Amendment Scheme, 1943, dated 22nd June, 1943, made by him under the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1925 (15 & 16 Geo. 5, c. 84), the Workmen's Compensation (Silicosis and Asbestosis) Act, 1930 (20 & 31 Geo. 5, c. 29), and the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1943 (6 & 7 Geo. 6, c. 6), under Order No. 887?

The purpose of the scheme is to extend and apply the special medical machinery set up for the purpose of making medical examinations and reports and giving the medical certificates required to be made or given under the compensation schemes for silicosis and asbestosis, to the making of medical examinations and reports and giving the medical certificates required in respect of other forms of pneumoconiosis to which the powers under the Workmen's Compensation Act were extended by Section I of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1943; and to apply the same medical machinery to cases arising under the Pneumoconiosis (Benefit) Scheme made under Section 2 of that Act.

asked the Home Secretary with reference to the reductions of the number of personnel in Civil Defence services what corresponding reductions are being made in the staff of his Ministry and of the Regional Commissioners?

Reductions of staff both at the headquarters and regional offices of my Department, amounting to some 12½ per cent. of the former and 2 per cent. of the latter, have taken place during the past 12 months. Some of these reductions are due to transfer of work to another Department. Increases or decreases in the whole-time strength of the Civil Defence Services do not automatically entail corresponding increases or decreases of office staff at headquarters or in the regions. Such matters, for example, as the general reorganisation of the services on the basis of the release of whole-time personnel and an increasing use of part-time personnel, where substitution is necessary, involve a large volume of administrative detail. The staff employed on such work, though forming a significant part of the office staff for whom I am responsible, is very small in proportion to the saving of man-power in the Civil Defence Services.