22 MAY 1920, Page 3

The Food Controller issued on Tuesday a warning that food

prices would remain high through the summer, owing to the scarcity of sugar, the dearness of flour and the inadequate supply of potatoes. He pointed out that food had not increased in price to the same extent as other commodities, and that it was cheaper here than on the Continent. Nevertheless the principal foods were now costing two and a half times as much as before the war. The Foed Controller expressed a hope that meat might not become dearer and that bacon, fish and milk and tea might become cheaper. As the wheat crops in North and South America and in Australia have been relatively poor, there is a likelihood that the imports may decline and that we may have to resort for a time to "war bread." It is a great pity that our farmers should have devoted less of their land to wheat last year and this year, owing to the Government's reluctance to guarantee them a fair price. It is now obvious that we shall need every bushel of wheat that can be grown in this country.