asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will consider increasing the ration of feedingstuffs allowed to farmers who rear calves but do not sell milk.

I am afraid I cannot see my way to alter the present conditions for the granting of rations for calves under six months old but the rations for calves between six and twelve months old which I announced yesterday will be available for all calves irrespective of whether the owner is selling milk.

Does the Minister think that that arrangement will be adequate?

I believe so, according to all the advice I can get from the experts.

asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will enlarge the scope of the extended feedingstuffs rationing scheme to include occupiers of half an acre of agricultural land.

No, Sir. There is no room on holdings of this size for the growing of the proportion of feedingstuffs which the occupier has to provide for his stock under the scheme.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that holders of precisely one acre are debarred from the scheme, and could he not give his feedingstuffs officers some discretion in this matter, because it is quite certain that some of these smallholders can grow sufficient feedingstuffs for a small quantity of poultry?

It so happens that my officers have absolute discretion. Where an occupier can show that he can produce approximately 50 per cent. of the feedingstuffs he requires, he is able to get his ration.

But is my right hon. Friend aware that his instructions are not always understood, because some of his feedingstuffs officers make it a reason for refusal if the holding is only one acre?

All my instructions are written in such elementary language that they ought to be understood.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what proportion of this year's wheat crop farmers will be allowed to retain for feeding to poultry and other livestock; and if he will review after harvest the need for retaining any restrictions on the use of home-grown grain required for the expansion of livestock production.

Farmers will be permitted to retain up to one-quarter of this year's wheat crop for feeding to stock, including both millable and non-millable wheat and tailings. Wheat is the only grain crop which the farmer is now required to sell, and in view of the urgent need to save dollars I can hold out no hope of further concessions in respect of this year's crop.

In view of the fact that the Minister is asking us now to grow 2¾ million acres of wheat, which will be a heavy call on our land, is he aware that he would be more likely to reach that target if he would allow farmers to retain some of the crop for the expansion of livestock.

The question of the hon. Gentleman relates to this year's crop where we are hopelessly behind the target.

Can the Minister say whether he has considered the question of allowing farmers a free market in the proportion of the grain which the farmers are allowed to keep for themselves?

Not while a rationing system of feedingstuffs is inevitable.

What possible objection could there be to that?

Because there is a rationing scheme in existence and there are many farmers, particularly in the Division of the hon. Gentleman, who can grow practically nothing for themselves in the form of feedingstuffs and so have to be dealt with out of the general rationing pool scheme.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what steps are being taken to prevent the flooding of the River Irwell at Peel Bridge, Ramsbottom.

I understand that the Rivers Mersey and Irwell Catchment Board are steadily moving upstream with their river clearance scheme for the River Irwell and are now within two miles of Peel Bridge, Ramsbottom. That point will be reached as soon as possible but it is essential that the normal practice of working upstream should be followed.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he is aware that, owing to the action of some education authorities in prosecuting parents whose children are absent from school whilst with their parents in the hop fields, hop growers are experiencing great difficulty in recruiting the necessary labour; and what steps he proposes to take to overcome the difficulty.

I am aware that in Herefordshire and Worcestershire hop-growers are concerned about the effect which the threat of prosecution will have on the hop-pickers coming from industrial areas. The normal school holidays in a few of the areas concerned will cover the whole of the hop-picking season; and although in other areas they will cover only the first part of the season, parents may also obtain permission for their children to stay away from school for an extra fortnight to accompany them on holiday. It will therefore be possible for the usual arrangements to operate for the greater part of the season; but there will still remain about 10 days at the end of September when parents who kept their children away from school to go hop-picking would be open to prosecution. My Department is considering, with the hop-growers and the other Departments concerned, what steps can be taken to fill this potential gap in the labour supply.

asked the Minister of Agriculture what provision has been made for an adequate supply of sacks to meet the needs of farmers using combine harvesters who have to market their grain immediately; and what advice he can give to farmers in the Southern counties who are unable to obtain all the sacks they require.

My Department offered two-bushel hessian sacks to all known owners of combine harvesters to augment the supply of the larger sack obtained on hire from the railways and the usual sack hire firms. All farmers who ordered hessian sacks from the Minister have been supplied, but owing to the unusually early harvest there is an abnormal last minute demand. I have, therefore, made arrangements for a further supply of hessian sacks and farmers who wish to buy them should communicate either with my Department or their county agricultural executive committee.

I am sure that farmers in the Southern counties will welcome that action of the Minister, but could he help them further by getting the Minister of Food to co-operate in so far as he may have spare sacks available which can be put to use with these combine harvesters?

I suppose that if my Department have not sufficient sacks, and the Ministry of Food have some, they will be readily available.

asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will arrange for allotment holders in Brock-well Park, Lambeth, to continue the cultivation of their allotments.

Early this year the London County Council proposed that a large proportion of the temporary allotment sites in their parks should be released after the present season and, notwithstanding our food difficulties, I felt that their claims for the early restoration of the land for sports and general recreational purposes could no longer be rigidly denied. I was, however, able to arrange that only half the total acreage under allotments should be released at the end of the year, the first to go being in the more congested areas and that the remainder should continue in cultivation for the present. The selection of the land for early release has been left to the Council and, in the circumstances, I should not feel justified in intervening in the case of Brockwell Park.

Does my right hon. Friend satisfy himself in all such cases that the recreational facilities are being so seriously prejudiced as to outweigh the need for growing more food?

I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that I am constantly fighting a rearguard action, my partiality being always in favour of food production.

asked the Minister of Agriculture how many personnel of the National Agricultural Advisory Service were employed at his Department's exhibit at the 1948 and 1949 Royal Shows, respectively; and what was the total cost of the exhibit in each year.

Approximately 50 N.A.A.S. officers were in attendance each day at the Royal Show this year and a somewhat larger number in 1948, as demonstrators on the many different features of the N.A.A.S. section of the Ministry's exhibit. The cost of the Ministry's exhibit was approximately £7,500 in 1948 and is estimated at roughly the same figure for 1949.

asked the Minister of Agriculture to what extent in the administration of the marginal production scheme account is taken of the financial means and status of the farmers who propose to undertake land reclaimation.

When considering applications for grants under this scheme, county agricultural executive committees have to decide whether the carrying out of the proposed operations without assistance would prejudice the ordinary work of the farm, or in other words, whether the proposed improvement would be unduly costly in relation to a farmer's existing income and capital. This does not imply elaborate means tests. Committees usually have sufficient information of a farmer's financial resources.

Will the Minister give us an assurance that where a farmer is prepared to undertake work that would not give an economic return, his own means outside farming will not prevent him from getting assistance from the Ministry?

I had better not go outside the reply I have given. It is a delicate operation but I can assure the hon. Member that county executive committees are administering this scheme as sympathetically as they can.

Did the first answer of my right hon. Friend mean that if it were found that expenditure on marginal land would interfere with the ordinary work of the farmer, such a man would get extra financial assistance? Does it mean that?

No, the very opposite.

Is the Minister aware that in certain areas schemes which were qualifying for the marginal production scheme last year are being turned down this year although the farmers are not wealthy men; and is he also aware that there is a great deal of resentment amongst bona fide farmers at this type of means test?

If the hon. Gentleman will be good enough to supply me with individual cases, I shall be happy to have them looked at.