but if I was off the farm to-morrow I should go to look for work on a farm. Unfortunately I met with an accident which unfits me for very hard work. I was crushed by a scrub roller. I have been in business for my self and otherwise. I suppose it was through a sense of dissatisfaction of being tied down to my trade that I thought I would try and get a start on my own and that I could do as well for myself as for my employer. However, I did not work 16 hours a day when I was in the city.

6597. by the CHAIRMAN : which do you consider to be the better life?—I undoubtedly prefer the country. In fact if I did not I should not be here now. Of course the early stages are hard and so is the battling, and so are the bad seasons. but I find I would have nothing to gain by going off the land and returning to the city to look for work. We used to be told that a man needed no capital to go on the land, but my experience has been that the Agricultural bank system with regard to advances on Clearing and improvements is a vast help, but it does not carry you quite far enough. Before sending out any new settlers there should be both railway facilities and water supply provided,and I think that the Agricultural department should assist in the direction of erecting homes for new settlers.

6598. By Mr . CLARKSON: If your liabilities were all funded and you were getting five or 10 years to repay, do you think you could establish yourself ?—I could carry on if I had enough in hand to see me through for 12 months, and I would prefer that to the present system.

(The witness retired)

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SAMUEL HENRY RODIER, Farmer Pintharooka,sworn and examined:

6599. To the CHAIRMAN: I and my partner,. Peacock and Incarity, hold 3,000 acres two and a half miles from the railway station. We have 580 cleared but none of it fenced. Our water supply is one well of good water. It is an ample supply. I am a married man with three children, the oldest of whom is five years of age. I have an iron roof camp, with stables and machinery shed. I have a complete plant, seven working horses, and several foals. Our partner- ship had capital of £200; since then we have put in £800. The Agricultural Bank advanced £705 and the Industries Assistance Board £570, plus this year's advances.

6600. To Mr CLARKSON: The price of the land originally was 19s.,but it has been reduced to 10s.6d. We have 300 acres in crop, none of which was fallow. I fallowed 40 acres with the cultivator in 1912. My highest average yield was last year, when I got 10 bushels at 3s. 4d. a bushel to pay the cost of putting in and taking off a crop. I sow one bushel to the acre on all classes of land, but I vary the super on the better land to 60lbs.per acre, and on the lighter land to use 80 or 90lbs. I have a stripper and winnower, and it costs 7s.an acre to take the crop off, and that includes bag sewing. I am under the impression that bulk handling would reduce costs.

6601 To Mr PAYNTER : I have no disease in my crop. I pickle my wheat and usually put it over the winnower screen twice. I have not tried any fodder crops or artificial grasses, but I have tried vegetables. I pay 9s. a day wages and the mend find themselves. They are indifferent workers, though some of them are all right. At harvest time they average about nine and a-half hours a day, but not so much as that throughout the year. I myself put in a couple of hours a day more than that. A man should hold 1,000 acres of first class land in this district, but 250 acres would be the maximum to cultivate single handed. Co-operation among farmers would be a good thing, but it would take some time to bring it about. The land laws are right enough, but I do not consider that a number of them are properly administered. For instance, you are promised when you take up your land that if you can secure an advance for certain objects that advance will cover the expense. We were told that the cost of clearing would be £1 per acre, but in my case it has been double that. The consequence is that settlers have been forced to clear their inferior land and have brought themselves into financial difficulties in some cases as the actual cost exceeded the amount of the advance. The advance hsould be made to enable the settler to clear his best land and so improve his security.

6602. To Mr VENN: I have to go in for sheep later; I would now if my property was fenced in. I have not heard of dingoes being about. On the whole my land is fair average grazing country. On 3,000 acres I could carry about 300 sheep. Water is easily obtainable. It would be a very great advantage if the Government would provide ewes on extended terms to deserving settlers.

6603. To Mr. CLARKSON: I hardly think that if our liabilities were funded and that we had 10 years to make the repayments in that we could finance ourselves satisfactorily. A large proportion of my 580 acres of cleared land is not suitable for wheat growing notwithstanding that it was classified by the Government as first class land. It is the actual mallee, scattered York gum, and scrub, but of course I take their classification as being correct, and have found it will not produce a payable return so that I could abandon that and clear more land. With 500 acres cleared I could finance myself with the help of sheep but not under the present conditions. I understand that farmers under the Industries Assistance Board are expected to fallow 300 acres and crop 300 acres annually.I contend that that is impossible without assistance, because we have so much clearing to do. This year I have been unable to touch nay land for fallow. I applied to the Board for labour, but I did not get it. I have not any land in fallow. Two hundred and fifty acres is as much as any man could possibly do on his own. It is a waste of time for a man to be on his own. It would be far better to have assistance throughout the year. You will have your team idle while doing small odd jobs about the place. If I had a man I could clear the land without any further advance, but when the Board suddenly refused to grant me labour, I am unable to do the work and I simply have to leave my implements and horses which I have had idle whenever there are any odd jobs that must be done.

( The witness retired.)

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