Mr. Howe (Wellington-Huron):

I should like to ask the question now that I wanted to ask on the first item with regard to storage in eastern Ontario and eastern Canada. I refer particularly to southern Ontario. Because of the cold and late spring this year the farmers found that they had to feed their stock for a longer period of time than usual. The winter stored grain in the elevators in southern Ontario apparently had been depleted and the farmers had to pay the entire rail freight on their grain from the west. That put the price up almost to a prohibitive figure.

I am wondering whether some steps should be taken to move more grain into southern Ontario during the period when navigation is open so that the same situation will not prevail next spring. It could prevail because on account of the late, cold spring not as much acreage of grain was sown in southern Ontario as in other years. There is every indication that next spring there will be another shortage of feed and more feed will be required.

A question was asked the other day by the hon. member for Mackenzie in the same connection arising out of a telegram sent to the minister with regard to the scarcity of feed grain even at the present time in southern Ontario and the trouble some of the merchants are having in obtaining feed grain, probably as a result of the shortage of box cars and other things. They are having trouble continually in getting sufficient feed grain from the elevators. Can the minister give any indication as to what the department can do with respect to moving more feed grain into eastern storage in the fall?

Supply-Trade and Commerce

Mr. Howe (Wellington-Huron):

I should like to ask the question now that I wanted to ask on the first item with regard to storage in eastern Ontario and eastern Canada. I refer particularly to southern Ontario. Because of the cold and late spring this year the farmers found that they had to feed their stock for a longer period of time than usual. The winter stored grain in the elevators in southern Ontario apparently had been depleted and the farmers had to pay the entire rail freight on their grain from the west. That put the price up almost to a prohibitive figure.

I am wondering whether some steps should be taken to move more grain into southern Ontario during the period when navigation is open so that the same situation will not prevail next spring. It could prevail because on account of the late, cold spring not as much acreage of grain was sown in southern Ontario as in other years. There is every indication that next spring there will be another shortage of feed and more feed will be required.

A question was asked the other day by the hon. member for Mackenzie in the same connection arising out of a telegram sent to the minister with regard to the scarcity of feed grain even at the present time in southern Ontario and the trouble some of the merchants are having in obtaining feed grain, probably as a result of the shortage of box cars and other things. They are having trouble continually in getting sufficient feed grain from the elevators. Can the minister give any indication as to what the department can do with respect to moving more feed grain into eastern storage in the fall?

Supply-Trade and Commerce

Mr. W. M. Howe (Wellington-Huron):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to direct a question to the Minister of Agriculture or, in his absence, to his parliamentary assistant. In view of the loss experienced by farmers of Ontario owing to late seeding and of the present difficulty experienced by them in haying and harvesting operations, all caused by wet, backward weather, is the government considering some type of crop insurance similar to that operating in the western provinces under the Prairie Farm Assistance Act?

Mr. W. M. Howe (Wellinglon-Huron):

should like to address a question to the Minister of Agriculture. Will the government give immediate consideration to the necessity of raising the present $4.50 freight rate subsidy on feed grains to the original

$6 rate? Owing to the extremely late spring and the tie-up of shipping on the great lakes the eastern Canadian farmer finds himself faced with the necessity of buying additional feed which has become costly and scarce.

Mr. W. M. Howe (Wellingion-Huron):

Committee on Atomic Energy would not bring about a resumption of the growing of this crop and the development of a linen industry in this country.

Another phase of industrial research was brought to my attention a few days ago by a question asked in connection with the use of stilbestrol in cattle and poultry feeds. When I heard the answer given by the Minister of National Health >and Welfare I gathered that the minister was not too sure about the matter himself. We are told that this is a very powerful drug which has to be used with care, and I wonder whether it should be put on the market before additional research is carried out to prove that it is not detrimental to the health of the people of Canada.

We can find many instances where research would be of great benefit. When we think about this question of research we cannot help but wonder what is going on in the rest of the world. I have often wondered why Danish butter was always in first demand on the British market, and the same with Danish hogs. But then I read that in Denmark, a country much smaller than Canada with a population of approximately 5 million people, there are 28 agricultural colleges. No doubt the boys and girls going through these colleges are able to carry on some research activity at home and are better able to interpret the policies developed by their agricultural colleges.

There are many other matters in connection with which additional research could be carried on, such as the handling of fresh vegetables and fruit, the refrigeration of vegetables, meats and perishable products and the packaging of all types of agricultural products to make them more palatable and attractive to the consuming public. Even in ;he face of our apparent surpluses, I think ;he main question is the possibility of develop-ng means of increasing our production as our copulation increases in order to prevent the lituation which has been mentioned by so nany of our learned men, that before too ong we will be short of food supplies.

To the urban dweller research is usually issociated with atomic energy, medical drugs, dtamins, television and so forth, but to a armer research means hybrid corn, disease [DOT]esistant crops, better control of insects, liseases of weeds, animals that grow faster ind cows that give more milk. It means more fficient ways of pricing and marketing his iroduct. It adds up to a higher standard of iving for the entire community.