asked the Minister for Agriculture whether any experiments have been carried out under the auspices of his Department for the purpose of ascertaining the cost of production in the case of wheat, barley, oats, mangolds, swedes, beet, potatoes and milk; and, if so, will he state what figure has been arrived at in each case.

Lavestigations on a limited scale into the cost of production on farms of wheat, barley, oats, mangolds, turnips, potatoes and milk were carried out in the year 1920, the results of which were published in the Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Vol. XXII, No. 3. Farming conditions have altered very considerably since these investigations were carried out and no recent cost figures are available.

Have any costings been taken since then?

No.

Would the Minister not think it is time to take costings now?