near the railway line. We applied to have ours revalued and I wrote to the Government stating that I was ready to show their officials over it, but I have never seen them yet. It was particularly the sandplain that we wanted to fix up. Freights are very prejudicial. Twelve months ago we had to pay for parcels of plants which cost 3s 6d. a sum of 10s in freight to the railway siding. A truck load of iron which we received cost more then the whole house that we brought from Goongarrie. We purchased the Transport Trading Company's shed in Goongarrie for removal to here and the freight far exceeded the cost of the shed. My father had no previous experience of farming. He had been a bookmaker on the goldfields. There are several kinds of poison here, but the most prominent are the kite leaf and box. One of my horses had some heart leaf yesterday which seriously upset him.

(The Witness Retired.) _________________

HARRY TAMBLYN, Tamblyn Brothers, Farmers, Latham, sworn and examined:

6437. To the CHAIRMAN: We have been seven years in this district and hold 2,140 acres, of which 1,000 acres is forest. The price we paid for 1,700 acres was 5s 9d., for 200 acres 10s, the balance is a homestead block. We have 10 miles carting west from the railway station. We have 450 acres cleared, 250 fenced, two wells and two bores. The wells give a fairly good supply; one of them is drinking water and the other not. We have a dam of 500 cubic yards, and another of about 120 cubic yards. I am a married man and have a house of four rooms constructed of hessian and iron, stables and machinery shed, 40 x 40, of iron. With the exception of a harvester I have all necessary farming implements. We have 10 draught horses and 13 other sorts. I had previous experience of farming in Yorke's Peninsula, and when we came here I had £2,000 capital, but this has been found insufficient to carry on with. The Agricultural Bank advanced £550, but I cannot say what is due to the Industries Assistance Board.

6438. Were last year's advances cleared out of your wheat? -No.

6439. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 300 acres under crop, but none of it was fallowed; it was all ploughed. Still I believe in fallow. This year I have fallowed about 50 acres for next year. Last year I had 50 acres fallowed. It shows a splendid crop, far better than the rest. I would have fallowed more this year, but I had to let the horses go in the paddock. My highest yield has been 18 bushels. That was in the first year I came here, 1910. In 1911 I got 58 bags from 130 acres. I think that the average for the district, including the two bad seasons, would be about 10 bushels. I should think it would take about 12 bushels to pay the cost of putting in and taking off. I sow about a bushel to the acre and 60 lbs. of super. I use a big Shearer disc cultivating plough with eight discs. It takes six big horses to pull it and sometimes seven, and I do eight or nine acres a day. I have a Massey-Harris drill which does 13 acres and I do about 14 acres a day with it. I have done 15 and 16 acres. I use a May's stripper and can do about seven acres with it, it has a 5ft. comb. I employ a man, but not all the time; in fact last year I put in the crop on my own.

6440. Do you think a man working under similar conditions to yours could reduce cost by using the largest possible machinery? - Certainly he could. This year I have hired a 7ft. harvester to do my work. About bulk handling I know nothing, but the duty on implements is too high.

6441. To Mr. PAYNTER: Last year we had blight; there was no wheat in the crop. I pickle my wheat. Last year I was late in getting the crop off on account of the bad weather, and this year the crop is not very good. It is light and short. I have not tried artificial grasses or fodder crops, but vegetables do well, and I think fruit trees ought to. I have to hand-feed my pigs, and I grow green stuff for them. We have poultry for our own use. When I employ a man I pay him £2 a week and keep in the harvest time, and 30s a week and keep in the ploughing season, but in these times men cannot be obtained for that money. The average working hours are nine and 10 a day. No man should have less than 2,000 acres to make a living out of in this district, and he should be able to handle 300 acres himself. I have not given the question of co-operation among farmers any thought, but so far as the land regulations are concerned I consider that the farmer has far too much to pay. He should have his land in this part of the country for nothing. Sandplain here is no good whatever, and it is dearer to clear than the timber land.

6442. By Mr. VENN: Would it be rushed if the Government gave it away? - I do not know a single farmer which has paid his way yet; I know we have not. If a man went to the Agricultural Bank and did more clearing he should be given extension of time in which to pay rents on this land. We should have 40 or 50 years instead of 20 to pay it off. I intend to go in for sheep, but at present dogs are a great trouble. We hold a pastoral lease of 3,000 acres in addition, and my intention is to get a few hundred sheep and some old man to look after them. Mixed farming is a far better proposition than wheat growing.

(The Witness Retired.) _________________

James Hunter, of Stockwell and Hunter, Farmers, Latham, sworn and examined:

6443. To the CHAIRMAN: We have been here for 5½ years, and hold 2,600 acres. The average price was 8s 4d. We are 12 miles east of the railway. We have 1,500 acres fenced, the balance is scrub and sandplain. We have cleared 450 acres, which is all fenced with dog-proof netting and adjoins the rabbit fence. Our water supply is one Government well on the road through the block and on the block 32ft deep, containing a small supply of stock water. We pay no rates for using the Government water. Our home is a two-roomed hessian and iron house with bush stables. We have everything necessary in the way of plant and seven working horses.

6444. Is it a fact that you are abandoning the place? -Yes; we owe too much money, and we called a private meeting of our creditors. We bought the place originally from another man and the promissory notes started to become due, and we could not see a chance of pulling through. The main cause of