but they do not seem to pull well together. Whenever they have a meeting there is generally a row before they finish. I consider that now they have reduced the rents they are quite fair, but I understand that I can apply for reclassification in my case, and I think I shall do so.

6576. To Mr. VENN: Sheep keep in pretty fair condition here; there are no dogs about. During my first few months here I saw one dingo, but have not seen one since. My sheep are ewes, but I have a few wethers. I cannot carry any more than I am doing. All my land is rung, but the suckers grow up very quickly. There is no poison here, but there is further West.

6577. To the CHAIRMAN: I have no grievance of any account. Of course things here were very rough at first, and I would prefer a larger holding for the purposes of sheep. There are 600 acres adjoining me, of which 200 or 300 acres are useful, but the rest is no good. There is heartleaf poison on it. Although I have applied for it, I do not know whether they will grant me the land.

6578. By Mr. CLARKSON: Do you think you could reduce costs by using the largest possible machinery in your case?—This country is very rough, and it does not do to have too heavy machinery on it; it does not last. I think a six-foot harvester is quite big enough for this kind of country.

(The witness retired)

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TURBERT HORACE CORRELL, Farmer, Morawa, sworn and examined:

6579. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been here since 1913, and had been farming previously in the Ovens and Murray districts in Victoria. I am an examiner. I took up 1,300 acres; about 500 acres of that is forest and the rest is ti-tree, scrub, and jam country. Most of it, however, will grow wheat. The light land is superior to the heavy land in the bad seasons. I am situated eight miles West of the railway. There are cleared 300 acres, and the same area is fenced. I have a good supply of water in a well 96 feet deep, but it has got brackish lately, and no doubt I would have had a better supply if I had cross cut. I am a married man with four children of school age. My house is a four-roomed skillion. I have no stable or shed for implements yet. I have implements to work the land, nine working horses, four or five foals, four pigs, some fowls and turkeys. I had nearly £1,000 when I took up this land, and I have borrowed £300 from the Agricultural Bank, and owed in the Industries Assistance Board £203 last March, plus this year's advances.

6580. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 240 acres cropped, but no fallow. My experience of fallow here is that it was not as good as the cultivation. My highest yield was 11 bushels; that was last year, and was the only crop I have had. I expect nine or 10 bushels this year. It takes about three bags to pay the expense of putting in and taking off the crop. I sow 60lbs. of seed to the acre and 50 to 60lbs. of super. I use a 25-tine spring-tooth instead of a plough, and I work six horses in it, doing about 15 acres a day. I have a 15-disc drill which does 12 to 14 acres, and a reaper thresher. It is light in draught and can take off a lot of crop. The Sunshine harvester is a heavy tool. Bulk handling would certainly reduce costs, although I have not thought out the best means of conveying the crop to the railway. The tariff is far too high, and in any case farming implements should come in free of duty.

6581. If your present liabilities were funded and you had 10 years to repay them in, would such a scheme suit you?—It is rather hard to say. A man might have a drought straight away, and they do not seem to have many good seasons in this district. I do all my own work with the aid of the children. I have three girls and a boy. One girl did the cultivating, another did the drilling, and I cleared 90 acres myself. I am badly in want of a windmill.

6582. To Mr. PAYNTER: Last year my crop suffered from septoria. I pickle, but do not grade my wheat. I have not tried fodder crops or artificial grasses. I got fruit trees from Perth last year, but well water is unsuitable for them. I keep pigs for my own use, also poultry. I employed one man for a fortnight. The wages are 9s. and 10s. a day, and the men find themselves. I work from 16 to 22 hours a day for seven days in the week. Any man in this locality should have at least 1,000 acres of land and ought to cultivate single-handed 300 acres every year. I think co-operation among farmers for the purchase of supplies and the marketing of produce would be a good thing, but I do not think you could get all the farmers here to pull together. They are a mixed lot. There are townspeople and goldfields people and it is hard to bring them together. There are progress committees and three or four branches of Farmer's an Settlers Association, but one body in some central place would be better. I think the land laws and regulations are very easy, but it is difficult to understand why a man who paid 28s. for his land when he first took it up should now only be called upon to pay 13s. 6d. My next-door neighbour's land was priced at 17s, and now reduced to 13s. In the first instance it is first class land and in the other it was sandplain. I do not know whether my own rent has been reduced.

6583. To Mr.VENN: It is nice sheep country, and one could make a do of it with sheep. With 900 acres cleared there should be 300 acres in, 300 acres out, and 300 fallow. I do not think dingoes will worry us very much. Those who keep cows have to feed them, and some of us have to feed our horses all the year round.

6584. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you think you could make a success of farming on your present experience?—It will be a very tight go I think. I have had bad luck since I have been here and my wife had to go to Claremont asylum. That is where farming in this district drove her. I have one girl of 15 years and another 13. They have left school. The other two children go to school; they are eight and six years old respectively.

(The witness retired.)\

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JOSEPH WYATT, Manager for Mrs. Wyatt, Farmer, Morawa, sworn and examined:

6586. To the CHAIRMAN: I came here in 1911 and took up 1,520 acres 6 ½ miles from the railway. I have 320 acres cleared, all fenced and subdivided into nine paddocks. My water supply is a well, but