asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will give further advice to farmers as to the best technique for destroying sparrows, as some people have had only poor success with traps;(2) what further advice he will give to farmers to help them keep down the number of sparrows, other than shooting or using sparrow traps, as these are now doing even greater damage to farm crops than tits or bullfinches.

I am advised that shooting or trapping are the only methods of control that can be recommended. My pests officers are available to advise on the best technique for either method.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further steps he will take to prosecute the campaign against pigeons, which do such widespread damage to crops.

Methods of control which would supplement shooting have been under investigation over the past few years. Of these, systematic nest destruction during two short periods of the year appears to hold out most promise for dealing with the pigeon population which is at present doing grave damage to crops. Extended field trials will be carried out this year in the eastern counties. When these have been completed I hope it will be possible to provide further information to farmers.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has full details of the Bowen technique of sheep-shearing developed in New Zealand; and if he will make them available for the benefit of farmers in this country.

The Wool Marketing Board, with assistance from the N.A.A.S., has been most active in making available information about the Bowen technique of sheep-shearing. The Board arranged for Mr. Bowen to visit this country last year, and numerous demonstrations and courses of tuition were held. Extensive use has been made of film, Press and broadcast publicity, and a book by Mr. Bowen is on sale. I understand that publicity and courses of instruction are being continued. I would warmly commend the Wool Marketing Board for the enterprise it has shown in this matter.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will advise local authorities to put up warning signs in foot-and-mouth infected areas, to prevent visitors, including mushroom and berry pickers, wandering about the fields and spreading infection.

Following a recommendation of the Gowers Committee on Foot-and-Mouth Disease, local authorities were asked in 1956 to put up warning notices on roads at the perimeter of, or leading into, foot-and-mouth disease infected areas. Under Section 12 of the Diseases of Animals Act, 1950, any persons owning or having charge of any animals in an infected area may erect notices prohibiting entry without permission to buildings or inclosures where the animals are. Such notices have the force of law.

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give consideration to increasing from 9 cwt. to 10 cwt. the maximum weight for heifers to be eligible for quality payment.

The present specifications and maximum weights for first quality steers and heifers were agreed with the three farmers' unions in March, 1957, and I can see no reason for changing them.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the gross yield on the 5 per cent. Defence Bond to be issued on 1st May, 1958, if the bond is held to maturity and the tax-free bonus is grossed up for tax at the standard rate of 8s. 6d.

£5 13s. 6d. per cent. The yield if no allowance is made for the fact that the bonus paid on maturity is tax-free, is £5 7s. 2d. per cent.; I am sorry that in my Budget statement I gave this figure incorrectly as £5 8s 6d. per cent.

asked the Minister of Health the condition of the lascar seaman who was moved to hospital on 19th March suffering from smallpox; and whether the lascar seaman who nursed him developed the disease.

He is now convalescent: the other seaman did not develop the disease.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that there is no separate advisory council for Scotland to review the institution and working there of tribunals relating to National Insurance and other important matters although in Scotland relevant conditions differ from those in England; and if he will take steps to set up such a separate council for Scotland.

The Tribunals and Inquiries Bill, now being considered in another place, provides for the constitution of a Council on Tribunals to review the constitution and working of tribunals operating throughout Great Britain, including National Insurance Tribunals. The Council will have Scottish members and a Scottish Committee of the Council will be constituted to consider and report on tribunals of special concern to Scotland.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the degree of liberalisation of imports into the United Kingdom from the dollar area.

About two-thirds by value of our imports from the dollar area are free from quantitative restriction.

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will consider making some relaxation in the licensing regulations, to enable growers owning lorries to transport other growers' produce to market on a C licence in the interests of economy and in order to reduce road and market congestion.

Under Section I (5, c) of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933, persons engaged in agriculture may in their C-licensed vehicles carry for reward agricultural goods or produce for another person engaged in agriculture in the same locality.

asked the Secretary of State for War the maximum length of service which, under his arrangements, constitutes a short-service commission.

The maximum initial period of a short-service commission for officers entering from civil life is eight years. When this has been completed, an extension up to a maximum total of 11 years may be granted in certain circumstances.Regular warrant officers with more than 12 years' service may be given a short-service commission which is for up to 15 years for combatant officers and up to the age of 53 for non-combatant officers.In addition, officers may be considered for extended service commissions which may normally be held up to the age of 55, though the age limit is higher in certain Corps.

asked the Secretary of State for War if he will give details of the work being done by a bomb disposal squad on an allotment at the back of Woodfield Avenue, Wembley.

The task was to discover and remove a bomb which was believed to have fallen and not exploded on the allotment during the war. The remains of it were found exploded at a depth of about 20 feet. The shaft dug by the bomb disposal unit is now being filled in.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the recent announcement by the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya to growers that licences for growing this crop will be reduced in the coming year, whether he will make a statement.

pursuant to the reply of the Under-Secretary of State [OFFICIAL REPORT, 13th March, 1958; Vol. 584, c. 68], supplied the following information:Owing to an accumulated surplus of unsold pyrethrum and to increasing difficulties in marketing the crop, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya has decided to restrict production. Licences for the coming year will be issued largely on the basis of growers' production over the past two seasons. Any crop in excess of the amount licensed will be bought by the Board at reduced prices.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what facilities exist in Nyasaland for Africans to obtain the necessary technical, administrative and commercial knowledge to enable them to qualify as agents for the Agricultural Production Marketing Board; and in what respects different qualifications are required for similar positions in the coffee industry.

pursuant to the reply of the Under-Secretary of State [OFFICIAL REPORT, 20th February, 1958; Vol. 582, c. 169], supplied the following information:The Agricultural Production and Marketing Board does not employ agents for tobacco-buying but buys direct from producers at its depots in the main tobacco-producing areas. At these depots, Africans are employed as paymasters, ticket-writers and classifiers of tobacco, and this work is providing them with useful training in the complicated business of tobacco-buying.The processing and marketing of coffee, which is classified under two grades only, requires less specialised staff and it has been found practicable to handle this crop by means of African Co-operatives.