Mr. GARDINER:

There is one there, but I do not think it is listed. There is a seed growers' organization in British Columbia.

Mr. MARTIN:

Has the minister listed the corn growers of Essex and Kent? If he has not, he has missed a most important one.

Mr. GARDINER:

I do not have that on my list.

Mr. MARTIN:

There must be something wrong with the minister's statistician.

Mr. PERLEY:

How many pounds of honey were produced by the cooperative at Qu'Appelle? Can the minister give the committee the number of pounds of honey shipped through Churchill, also how many pounds that particular point in Saskatchewan contributed to that particular shipment? He will recall that a considerable shipment of honey went out through Hudson bay last fall.

Mr. GARDINER:

I have not the figures,

but the Saskatchewan honey handled under the Agricultural Products Cooperative Marketing Act totalled 511,000 pounds.

Mr. DOUGLAS (Weyburn):

What is the

total value of the products handled under the act during the -last fiscal year?

Mr. GARDINER:

I have not all the

products here, but Saskatchewan honey, Manitoba honey, Saskatchewan alfalfa seed, Ontario

Agriculture Cooperative Marketing

onions and fox and mink pelts totalled $906,000. There are some others which I have mentioned and for which I have not the figures.

Mr. QUELCH:

What percentage of the

whole would that be?

Mr. GARDINER:

I have not the figures

here. I put most of them on Hansard the other night. With regard to honey, it would be a considerable part so far as the west is concerned.

Mr. NICHOLSON:

Has the minister the

value of alfalfa in Saskatchewan?

Mr. GARDINER:

The total was 1,158,750 pounds, valued at $150,000.

Mr. PERLEY:

Could we have some information as to the terms of the agreements entered into last year between the department and these cooperatives? Also could we know if there is to be any change this year in the agreements?

Mr. GARDINER:

Each agreement made

with these different organizations is based upon the practices followed in the marketing of the particular product, but generally speaking the principle upon which agreements are made is that the government guarantees a percentage of the average price for the preceding three years. The bill itself provides that the government cannot guarantee more than 80 per cent of the average price obtained for a product during the previous three years. In actual practice, most agreements cover about 65 per cent of the average for the previous three years. Under the bill, the organization set up uses the guarantee for the purpose of financing their operations, making initial payments to the producers and providing for the cost of administration throughout the season. When the product has been sold, if more than the initial price and the cost of administration is obtained, then they make interim and final payments on the product.

Mr. PERLEY:

What will be the liability

of the department to these cooperatives under last year's operations?

Mr. GARDINER:

There has not been a

full year's operation under the act. As the hon. member knows, the act came into force about July 1 last year and has been operating only from that time. Many of these organizations were not set up until quite late in the year. Here are some of the products and dates:

Honey-August 31.

Alfalfa-August 31.

Onions-November 28.

Registered seed-December 20.

Silver foxes-December 8.

Silver fox and mink-December 19.

Silver fox and mink pelts, maritimes- January 4.

These organizations are comparatively new.

Mr. PERLEY:

I understand that the fox farmers of Saskatchewan did not organize.

Mr. GARDINER:

They have been negotiating, but I do not think their organization has finally been set up. I would not be absolutely certain of that.

Mr. WRIGHT:

Is it anticipated that there will be any loss in connection with any of these operations?

Mr. GARDINER:

The only case in which there would appear to be any possibility of a loss is in connection with onions, and that situation has improved recently.