deal too high on farming tools. But , whatever tariff is put on, the farmer is fleeced by someone. All the same, the farmers should be prepared to pay their share towards the revenue, but we are too heavily taxed to make a success of farming here . Although I myself and two of my sons are working on the farm, we are nevertheless £1,000 in debt.

6186. By Mr. PAYNTER : Have your crops suffered from any disease? —No. I grade my wheat and I have several little plots of artificial grasses. One is Lucerne, which is doing very well . The names of two of the grasses I am raising I do not know.I planted about five dozen fruit-trees, but at the present time only one of them is left out of the lot .I have a prize boar purchased from Padbury. My pigs are mostly fed on wheat and offal. I raise poultry for my own consumption. Although we have been in our present house for four months we have not consumed a tin of meat. I have only employed a man for a few weeks and for a couple of months at a time. I and my sons do the work. We start about six in the morning and finish about half-past seven at night, as a rule. We never work less than 12 hours a day and for half the day on Sunday. The cattle have to be watered. I think the minimum quantity of land that a man requires to make a living out of should not be less than 1,000 acres and up to 1,400 or 1,500 acres, and the maximum amount that he would be capable of properly handling, in my opinion, would not be more than 250 acres a year. In regard to co-operation amongst the farmers for the sale of their produce and the purchase of supplies, I may say that I have tried to bring some scheme about but I could not do it successfully .

6187. Do you consider the present land laws encourage settlement, and that the price of land is reasonable? —The price of land up here has been a great deal too high. A man should be able to go on to the land with his family and obtain the fee simple in 10 years. A good many of us would not have come on to the land if we had realised what the regulations acutally meant. I came here 10 years ago with six children, the eldest 12 years of age, and battled along here for years. It was four years before we obtained a school, after incessant battling. We are always working and yet we are still in debt. Machinery is expensive, so are bags, freights are heavy, and at the distance we have to travel it is like earning £5 and paying out £5. A single man, without any incumbrances, can do just as well as I can with my family. If he wants to go to Perth he has only one fare to pay, but I, with my responsibilities, obtain no concession. I cannot leave my farm at Christmas and take advantage of excursion rates, and could not do so, in any case, until the month of April, when there are no excursions such as they have on the coast.

6188. By Mr VENN: Do you do any dairying? — I milk a few cows but it does not pay to send the cream to Perth, although I have sent a few lots to Macfarlane. The present price is now 1s. 4d .The freights here are altogether out of reason. There is not a farmer with a pound to his name. Even the State Implement Works charge the same for their goods as those that are made in Canada. The cost of bags should be reduced, also the railways freights, as they are both a heavy tax upon us. Last year I paid the Railway Department over £120 for trucking wheat and manure, which is the equivalent to 24 first class fares from Subiaco to Perth for 365 days in the year plus 40 second class fares. So that the 40 only contributed the same amount as I, a single individual did. If I order £10 worth of goods in Perth, before I get delivery of them here I have to pay 30s. on them. The people in Perth do not pay 30s. on them. The people in Perth do not pay 1s. while I am fined 30s. Folks say the farmers are always growling, but they forget we are doing all the paying. A neighbour of mine inquired the price of lime from Briggs & Rowland and was told the cost would be 3s a bag. On top of this the railways wanted 3s. a bag freight. The consequence was we did not get the lime and the railway did not get our money. We seem to be blocked at every turn, and families never get any such concessions as are enjoyed in other parts of the State. I bought a truck of heifers down the line; I paid for the truck and loaded them. I thought they would have been here the next morning but they only landed last Wednesday. When they arrived one of them could hardly stand. I wrote to the department about it and they explained that the train missed connection at Perth, and then at Northam. So that we seem to be taxed to pay men big salaries to mismanage our business. I have some heifers coming in soon, but if I rail them to Perth what is going to happen to a cow in full milk, if she is that time on a train? I consider that I am worth as much to the State every year as 50 people in Subiaco. (The witness retired.)

ROBERT GRAHAM, farmer, Lake Hinds , sworn and examined.

6189. To the CHAIRMAN: I am a farmer and have been settled six years farming in this district next April. I was for seven years farming previously at Waeel, and before that in South Australia at Booleroo and Melrose. I hold 1,740 acres of land, of which 740 is forest, and the balance lagoons and salt bush, grazing land, which cost 6s. The forest land cost 10s. and 15s., and this price has not to my knowledge yet been reduced, although I am in communication with the Industries Assistance Board and have applied for a reduction. I am 13 miles from a railway siding. I have cleared 200 acres, the whole of which is forest. I have ring fenced 480 acres, and my water supply is dependent on the Government well, situated 2½ miles from my property, from which I have to cart it. I am married man with three children. My house of three rooms is weatherboard and lined. As yet, I have no stabling and no machinery shed, but I have sufficient farming plant for my requirements and six working horses, also a couple of cows and heifer calves. My Children are not of school age. I started with about £500 capital. I paid £375 for the property and the balance was put into harness and machinery. Everything brought up here for me on the railway I had to pay a big price for. I owe the bank approximately £400 and have been assisted, through a partnership, to the extent of about £400 by the Industries Assistance Board. That sum is a charge on the land I hold together with a neighbour who is partnership with me. But one crop has gone in against that amount. It has not covered the whole of the expenses, and my partner has gone to the front, so that I am left to shoulder the whole of the liabilities. All my partner's assets are included