as the American articles that are coming in here. At the same time, they do not last as long as the Victorian articles. After being a protectionist I was with Briscoe & Co., agent for Hornsby's reaper and binder, and, in my opinion there is nothing that can come up to it. When Hornsby died the business was turned into a company and they got out a new binder, but it is not nearly the same as the old one. Certainly the tariff ought to be reduced in the case of the farmer.

6423. To Mr. PAYNTER: Our Federation suffered from rust last year. We pickle the wheat, but do not grade it. To a man who has been farming on the other side everything appears to be different out here. For instance, you cannot apply the best methods to new land which has to be cleared. Then we have had droughts and a lack of water. We are with our farming in the same position to-day as they were at one time in Victoria in regard to irrigation. There they spent a million of money and achieved no result, and all the irrigation settlers were insolvent, so they went to Turner, the Premier, and he wiped off the outlay, a fresh start was made and from that date everything has gone ahead. They should follow the same example here and wipe off our loan and let us make a fresh start. If you call at D. Smith's farm at Perenjori, you will see a farm modelled on the lines of the other side. He is from St. Arnaud; however, he wants to go back there now. In Australia we have a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads in the guise of droughts. I have grown sorghum and have tried maize. Vegetables, however, do well if you get them in with the first rains, but fruit trees will not do any good at all on account of the white ants. To. Mr. Just, another settler, I gave seeds of sorghum and Japanese millet and the latter is doing particularly well with me. When Mr. Tate was in charge of the Victorian railways he sent out officers all over the State to ascertain what was the best crop to grow in each district, and when the information was collected he had pamphlets published advising the farmers the methods to adopt in particular localities, and he also initiated the plot system which has proved an invaluable object lesson throughout Victoria. Personally I should be happy to assist experimentally by ploughing and keeping clean plots of land here if the authorities care to forward me seeds whereby we can ascertain what is suitable for this locality. Tree lucerne thrives very well here, but I think what we all need is some more direct departmental encouragement. Pigs do very well; we hand-feed ours. Poultry do well here and in winter, which is warm, they go on laying. We got as much as 3s. 3d. a dozen last winter for our eggs. Eggs are really our meat up here as all our beef and mutton has to come up from Goomalling. We all work seven days in the week and 14 to 15 hours a day, while recreation is unknown. It is pitiable to reflect that there have been children here for the last seven years who have been absolutely without educational advantages. There are half a dozen farmers who have children and surely a schoolmaster could be found who would travel round on a bicycle and give, say, two days a week to each family. I consider that no man should hold less than 1,000 acres, and he cannot handle more than 250 acres singlehanded every year. Co-operation amongst farmers, of course, would be quite the right thing. Personally I come from a fruit growing district and we were not long in co-operating. In one season there were 28 co-operative factories established in Victoria, yet the only one alive to-day is at Bendigo, the sole survivor. The reason for that, in my opinion, is that the management should be under purely business men. Amongst farmers themselves there is so much suspicion that success seems impossible while matters are in their hands. I do not consider the land conditions to be quite reasonable. In Victoria to-day we have the 40 years' system of tenure and no payments at all for five years. The price of the land here is a great deal too much. What should it matter to the State, as long as the public estate is settled? Here we pay 10s. spread over 20 years, but before the railway came here we had to cart 30 miles from Coorow. Prices should be regulated by the rainfall, and 8s. should certainly be the very highest price exacted, and the farmer should have 40 years to pay it in. We intend to go in for sheep, but we have both dogs and poison at present. Mr. Hunter brought out 300 sheep here at the beginning. The last I heard of them was that there were about eight left, owing to the dogs principally, but until poison is eradicated and dogs destroyed it would be absurd to go in for sheep. The majority of the people here have too much land for their capital. The land rent should be deferred for at least five years after a man has cleared a holding and it would be no disadvantage to the State to give him 40 or 50 years to pay off the purchase price. I mentioned that plot trials would be an excellent innovation here. I would add that a school is greatly needed.

         (The witness retired.)

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WILLIAM HARRY JEFFERIES, Farmer, Latham, sworn and examined:

6424. To the CHAIRMAN: I took up my land six years ago, 3,000 acres. Two thousand two hundred acres are forest and the rest scrubby sand. I paid 10s. for 1,000 acres and 15s. for the rest. This has now been reduced to 13s. I am five miles south east from the railway, and have cleared 450 acres and fenced 200 acres and around 1,000 acres we have the posts ready erected for wire. We depend on wodjil for fencing posts. It splits, but it is all right wired up. It is not easy to keep your holes bored through wodjil on account of the fissures and the consequence is you cannot pull the wires through straight, otherwise wodjil is equally as good as jam. Nevertheless the Agricultural Bank will not countenance it. (The witness gave the Commission a demonstration of the practice of wiring a wodjil post instead of boring it.) I have a 1,000-yard dam 8ft. 6in. deep uncovered, and a well 32 feet deep yielding about 3,000 gallons a day. It is the champion well of the district. I am a married man with a fairly comfortable house of iron, a bush stable, and a bush shed for implements. I have practically all the implements I require. I have four draught working horses and a rouseabout, also a cow and a bull calf and five breeding sows. I have spent £800 or £900 since I have been here of my own capital and got an advance of £750 from the Agricultural Bank. At the outbreak of the war I was settled financially, so I went to the I.A.B., and I think after my wheat returns are allowed for I shall owe about £700.

6425. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 260 acres under crop, none of which was fallow. I did believe in fallow once but have changed my mind so far as