asked the Minister of Food the amount of milk output in Great Britain in 1938 and 1946, respectively, and the proportions used in each case for liquid consumption, manufactured foodstuffs and other manufactured goods.

One thousand, two hundred and ten million gallons of milk were sold off farms in Great Britain in 1938 and 1,424 million gallons in 1946. Of these quantities 845 million gallons were used for liquid consumption in 1938 and 1,265 million gallons in 1946. Three hundred and sixty-five million gallons were manufactured into food products in 1938 and 159 million gallons in 1946. No whole milk was used for other manufactured goods but some 8 million gallons of skim milk were used before the war in the manufacture of casein for industrial purposes.

Is my right hon. Friend aware of the widespread impression that a great proportion of milk is used today to manufacture such articles as buttons and umbrella handles, as in the case of 1938?

I welcome the opportunity of saying that none is used for such purposes.

Do the figures the Minister has given refer to the quantities used in Great Britain or in the United Kingdom?

I have "Great Britain" on my paper, but I will look into that.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will arrange for compensation to be paid to potato growers in Cornwall whose early potatoes were left unmarketed owing to circumstances over which they had no control.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the losses sustained by the Cornish farmers in relation to their early potato crop, owing to circumstances over which they had no control, he will arrange for adequate compensation.

I cannot agree that any compensation should be paid; most of the early crop has been cleared and there is a local market for the rest, which should be cleared by mid-September.

May I ask the Minister whether or not he has received the letter I sent him, and, if he has received it, will he reconsider this matter in view of the specific details I wrote to him on the subject?

Yes, I have received the hon. Member's letter and the enclosure, but the enclosure is not accurate. We have extended the period in view of the difficult weather conditions we have encountered, of which his correspondent did not seem aware, and in general I think we have met these growers pretty fairly.

asked the Minister of Food if he will give details of the arrangements for grants which have been, or are being, offered to Australia and other Dominions through the Oversea Food Corporation, or otherwise, to finance the expansion of particular types of food production.

None, Sir. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom will, however, welcome any further steps which can be taken in other countries of the Commonwealth to secure increased production of the foodstuffs needed by this country, and there have been preliminary discussions between the Ministry of Food and representatives of the Australian Government regarding possible developments. The question how such developments should be financed has not so far been discussed.

Does the answer of the Minister mean that the statement, or message, from a Melbourne correspondent in "The Times" last Wednesday about a £50 million grant for particular purchases of particular goods has any foundation whatever?

I read that despatch with interest, and indeed pleasure to find that our Australian friends were keen, but it was a little premature in view of the fact that the Overseas Food Corporation is not yet set up.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that lorry loads of perishable foods such as plums, apples and cauliflowers are being refused in large city markets with the view of keeping up prices; that producers are being compelled to carry tons of these goods back to their warehouses unsold; and if he will take action so that the public will have the opportunity to purchase these foods at open market prices and avoid this waste of transport, labour and produce.

Certainly fruit and vegetables are now in heavy supply, and the only way in which these supplies can be cleared is by rapid and substantial reductions in retail prices. Retail prices have, of course, fallen greatly since the very high levels of last spring. For instance, cauliflowers were selling at is. 3¾d. a lb. in the middle of April, and are now selling at 6d. to 6½d. a lb. which is below last year's controlled price. Similarly cabbage was is. 1¼d. a lb., and is now 4½d. a lb. on average. But, as I recently told a conference of the wholesale and retail trade, even these reductions in price are not enough if they do not suffice to clear the market, and I strongly advised them to reduce prices still further. Moreover, in order to encourage them to do so, I have, as already announced, decided to allow anyone who likes to enter the greengrocery retail trade without need of a licence as from 1st September next, and to the greatest extent practicable to free entry into the wholesale trade also.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that I am very much obliged for the splendid reply he has given to this Question? Is there any possible way to help a producer when he takes a load to Manchester or Sheffield and cannot sell that load on the spot but has to take it back to Cambridgeshire or some other place?

My right hon. Friend raises an important problem, but I think the best way in which we can deal with it quickly today is to open the trade both on the wholesale, and above all, on the retail side to the maximum number of competitors.

May I ask whether the confession that free competition reduces prices should not be followed by other Departments?

It is not a confession. [HON. MEMBERS: "It is a fact."] It is an announcement, which has already been made, that the wartime system—not set up by this Government—by which these trades had to have ring fences put round them so that nobody could get into them, is not a desirable thing, and, in the long run, leads to unpleasant private enterprise monopolies.

Does that mean that by opening the retail trade, when there are allocations these retailers will get the same facilities in regard to imported fruit as he is going to grant in regard to home grown fruit?

Yes, Sir.

Is the Minister at this time importing any of these articles from foreign countries?

I do not know what articles the hon. Member has in mind.

Fruit and vegetables—peaches, and things of that sort?

Some peaches, of course.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that if all producers got together and adopted marketing schemes instead of asking the State to do everything for them they would be better off?

We are getting a bit too wide of the Question.

asked the Minister of Food what proportion of the total out put of eggs produced in Great Britain passes through packing stations licensed by his Department.

About 70 per cent. of the estimated production of eggs from agricultural holdings for the year ended 31st May, 1947, was sent to licensed packing stations.

Is the Minister satisfied that this proportion of 70 per cent. is as high as it should or could be?

We have, of course, to allow for the fact that some eggs are consumed in the households of producers, and that some are used for hatching, but we should like to keep the proportion as high as possible.

asked the Minister of Food in view of the critical situation what steps he is now taking to increase purchases of feedingstuffs in order to stimulate meat, milk and egg production in this country.

We have already succeeded in buying much more feedingstuffs than we were able to get last year. As the House knows this has already enabled my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture to increase the livestock rations. We shall buy more feedingstuffs as they are available. We are also taking very active steps to get the quantities already bought shipped to this country, which has been a difficult matter.

Is the Minister aware that to enable agriculture to respond to the Prime Minister's appeal, it is essential that he should be more successful than in the past in purchasing feedingstuffs or, alternatively, to hand it over to private enterprise?

Can the Minister say whether arrangements have now been made to secure the 500,000 tons of wheat offals from Canada arising from our wheat agreement with her, in that we take so much of it in flour? Has that been secured?

No, Sir. By far the greater part of the wheat under the Canadian wheat contract, comes here in the form of wheat, not flour, and the offals are, therefore, available.

Does the Minister realise that there is urgency in this matter; that the increase announced recently by the Minister of Agriculture does not touch the fringe of the problem, and that much more imports are required before we can get the pigs, bacon and eggs we require to reach the Prime Minister's target?

I am sure that the whole Government realise that there is no more urgent problem for agriculture than this. Fortunately, larger quantities of feedingstuffs are at last becoming available in the world, but the cereal shortage in the world is by no means over. We cannot get as much as we should like by any means.