working horses, and two hacks. We started with a capital of £2,000 and the Agricultural Bank advanced us £700, but I have had no statement from the I.A.B.; in fact I think I am clear of them. We have 450 acres under crop, but no fallow. The best average yield was give bags to the acre in 1913, and I think it will be about the same this year. It takes 12 bushels to pay the expense of putting in and taking the crop off. I usually sow a bushel of seed to the acre and 45lbs. of super., which I make a little heavier on the light land, and I also usually sow a little more seed on that land. I have a 12-furrow disc plough with a horse to the furrow, and do 12 acres a day. I have two drills, a 15 and a 17. With the 17 I have done 30 acres a day, and a fair day's work should be 20 acres. I have two harvesters, the Ideal and a Mitchell, 6ft. and 5ft. respectively. With these I do six acres a day. Of course with larger machinery the costs would be proportionately reduced. My own opinion is that the stripper should be used more widely, as it is saving both to the farmer and the country. I have seen a man average 24 acres a day with a stripper and one team with an 8ft. comb. I think the farmers are wrong in working a harvester, which does not cost less than £10 a year for expenses. Then there are the breakages and the horses standing idle. I should think that bulk handling would considerably reduce costs. Tanks could be used for the conveyance of the grain to the railway, but it is essential that we should have a better class of bag than we are now getting.

6615. To Mr. PAYNTER: Last year I had rust badly. I pickled the wheat and put it through the winnower. I have not gone in for fodder crops or vegetables. The wages paid generally in harvest time are £2 and £2 10s. a week and keep. The average hours worked are about 10 a day. A farmer would be better off with 500 acres than with 1,000 because he can utilise the smaller acreage more profitably. If he had 500 acres cleared and 200 acres of fallow and 200 acres of crop and sheep I should think he ought to do all right; but big areas are a mistake. Wheat growing itself, however, will not pay wages at present prices. I believe in co-operation, but it would be a big task to get the farmers to pull together. I am of opinion that the Crown lands should be given to farmers free for five years at least. Then they should be cut off the land if they are a failure. In New Zealand I was able to take up land for three years free of rent. Then there was £1 per hundred acres to pay, or 4 per cent. on the upset price. For land of that class there was a guarantee of 12 tons of potatoes to the acre and the regulations enabled a man to get on his feet. I have not yet been able to go in for sheep, but I will do so at once if the Government would advance me some on extended terms. I have seen no dingoes in the locality, and there is no poison here.

6616. By the CHAIRMAN: Would you prefer that there should be a system of perpetual leasehold or the present system of tenure?—I believe in the lease perpetuity. The land should be paid for as a grazing proposition and the settler should have the option of farming it if he chose.

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MICHAEL JOSEPH DWYER, Farmer, Mullewa, sworn and examined:

6617. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been here for six years, and I took up a thousand acres of land. Lately I have taken up another 2,400 acres of lake country for grazing. I have three miles cartage to the railway. There are 300 acres cleared, 1,000 fenced, and three paddocks. My water supply is a well and a windmill. It is not a good supply, but it is good water. I have also a small dam. I am a married man with seven children, all boys, and the eldest is 14. There is a school accommodation here. My house is 28 by 16, with a flat iron roof and bags for the sides and an earthen floor. I have a bush stable and a bush machinery shed and the necessary farming implements, 10 working horses, one foal, four head of cattle, 10 pigs, 170 sheep, and 60 lambs. I had about £100 cash when I took the land up. I got £425 from the Agricultural Bank and I owe the Industries Assistance Board about £250.

6618. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 300 acres under crop, 25 acres of fallow the winter before. It is poor land, but it is better than the crop alongside it. My highest yield was 15 bushels last year. It is not as good as this year, possibly only 10 bushels. If I got a return of 12 bushels that would just about keep me going. No doubt bulk handling would decrease the costs. One would require to have a van specially constructed to convey the grain to the station and tip it in. Farmer's implements should come in free of duty, and this concession, if granted, would more than pay for itself later on.

6619. To Mr. PAYNTER: I have had no disease in my crops. I pickle but do not grade my wheat. I had a good show of vegetables last year, but none at all this year. I have not sent any pigs away, although I have sold a few locally. I turn them out in the winter on the crop and put them in when the wheat is in head. I keep poultry for our own use. The rates of wages here for some men are £2 per week and for other £1, and there are some good men among them. I expect a man to work as hard as I do myself, but any farmer would do better if he ran a few sheep. I applied for some land for the purpose of sheep, as it was not suitable for cultivation, but they want me to have it on C.P. terms at 5s. an acre, which would run about £28 a year, and in addition to that there are the Roards Board dues of £6 or £8 a year. I would have to fence it in myself, and this I would be glad to do if the rent were only made cheaper. Sheep do very well in this country.

6620. I think that co-operation among farmers would be a good thing; so far as the land conditions are concerned, they seem to be all in order, but it would be far better to let people have the land at bedrock as the country would benefit. There are no dingoes here. I think that the government should see that there is a proper housing accommodation among the settlers. A sum of about £50 would enable a man to build a good house. This would make families more contented than they are under the present rough conditions.

(The witness retired.)

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