It does not stool well on our country, but it stands through the summer and keeps green. Vegetables do well here, but fruit trees are attacked with white ants. We tried poultry on our place as a side line, and it is all profit. As far as pigs are concerned, we have none and I prefer beef.

6775. What is your opinion as to the minimum quantity of land a man should hold in order to make a decent living out of it?—Personally, I want more land myself, and I want to increase the number of my sheep as against my liabilities. Anything that I put into the ground I put in properly, but I want to work single-handed and to keep away from the labour business. I have 1,437 acres, but alongside there is another 1,500 acres fairly good grazing land. I would like it classed on the number of sheep that it would carry. I think that every man should have 2,000 acres of land to farm, and with 5,000 acres altogether, including grazing land, he would be all right.

6776. How many acres could a man farm profitably himself with a little help at harvest time?—A certain amount of clearing would have to be done first and then if he does 150 acres he is doing fairly well.

6777. Supposing a man with a team fallows in winter, cultivates in the spring, and seeds it and has a man sewing bags, how much land ought he to deal with?—Two hundred and fifty acres if he is doing nothing else, and I think it would be an advantage to farmers to co-operate for the purchase of supplies and the sale of produce, but, of course, until they are properly organised nothing can be done in this direction. I consider, too, that the rents for poor land in this State are far too high, and you have to spend a lot of time prospecting for water. If the land selection policy is to be encouraged the settler should have the land given to him for a certain time, say, five years, free of rent. Every man before he goes on to the land should have to go before a board and explain his experience of farming, and should not be able to take up his land unless he shows his fitness for the occupation; otherwise he is only courting disaster from the start.

6778. To Mr VENN: I carry 200 sheep on my land; it is good grazing country, and a few good farmers go in for sheep here. There are no dingoes. Rabbits are increasing rapidly, particularly within the last couple of years. They are burrowing and breeding. There is some York road poison in my district, but it is in small and confined patches, and that is 34 miles from here eastward. What I desire to impress upon the Commission is the necessity of a school at Eradu. I have one child myself, and there are four others belonging to neighbours. There is a man working here who would take on teaching. We are not in a position to pay for our children at a boarding school, and it is 13 miles to the nearest State school.

6779. You can secure a full-time school if there are eight children in attendance?—I would like to get a married man here with three children to take on the school. The single man could be transferred somewhere else and a married man employed. We ourselves would be willing to erect a school or cart the timber, or we would give so much a week to the teacher to live on. There must be dozens of children close to the railway who are long distances from schools.

6780. The CHAIRMAN: We cannot deal with individual cases, but we shall report on the educational facilities generally.

(The witness retired.)

PATRICK STONE, Merchant, Geraldton, sworn and examined:

6781. By the CHAIRMAN: We would like you to tell us something about the milling facilities in Geraldton?—the capacity of our mill is 100,000 bags a year. The gristing charges are 8d. a bushel.

6782. Can you grind and put out that quantity annually?—Yes, with two shifts. We have done it. We have 15 or 16 men working eight shifts a week. We export a good deal to Java and Singapore and have sold a quantity to the Government. I have 700 or 800 tons of flour now, but it is difficult to get it shipped.

6783. How far south of Geraldton does your product find a market in normal times?—As far as Three Springs and along the Wongan line and for 100 miles past Mullewa. We buy wheat from Perenjori.

6784. What districts in your opinion produce the best milling wheats?—The farther out you go the better the quality of the wheat for milling. Three Springs and Mullewa wheat would perhaps be the best and it is worth 2d. or 3d. a bushel more than the wheat nearer the coast.

6785. By Mr CLARKSON: When you say 2d. more, do you mean the farmers get 2d. more for their wheat?—No. We have a flat rate, but the wheat makes better flour and takes more water. Some wheats take more water than others. The mill is on the co-operative principle.

6786. Is the bulk of the shares held by the farmers?—Originally they were held in small numbers, five shares, 25 shares and so on, but as they got hard up the townspeople gradually bought the shares up. There is a limit of 200 shares for a single holder, but a man's wife and daughters can hold shares in addition.

6787. What is the system of voting at meetings?—It is registered under the Companies Act. I have five votes for my first five shares. As the number of shares increases the number of votes is proportionately reduced.

6788. By Mr PAYNTER: Has it been a success or a failure from a co-operative point of view?—A success, but we had a struggle at the start for want of funds. When I took charge of it there was talk of putting it into liquidation, but I succeeded in making financial arrangements by which I bought 70,000 bags of wheat to begin operations.

6789. By Mr CLARKSON: Have you been able to pay dividends showing a fair remuneration?—We paid 10 per cent. last year and also this year. My intention is to arrange a sufficient credit in case we have to buy again, but I do not know whether we can buy the quantity we want. As things are now the Government supply the wheat and we get so much for buying on behalf of the Government. Last year I sent them a cheque for over £4,000. 6790. What percentage of the shares is held by the farmers now?—The company was in 15,000 shares. We have only sold a little more than 3,000 shares and the less shares we sell the greater the profit to divide, but if necessary we could sell up to another 15,000 shares without reconstructing the company.