and the whole of it fenced. There is a good supply of water in wells. I am a married man but have no children. I have four-roomed house of wood and iron. I have no stable for my horses, but have a shed for machinery. I have also a set of farming implements, 14 working horses, about 600 sheep, and five head of cattle. I had about £250 capital. The Agricultural Bank assisted me in the first instance, but I am now trading with the chartered banks, and I find that they are willing to assist a hard-working man who shows his capacity and ability.

7012. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 380 acres under crop, and 80 acres fallow. I had previous experience of fallow, and the crop is a great deal better than by the other methods. In the majority of seasons it means an increase of five or six bushels per acre easily. I have had two successive seasons with an average of 24 bushels to the acre, namely, in 1912 and 1913. Last year I had an average of eight bushels, and I lost a good deal of my crop through storms. In 1914, through the drought, I had only three bushels to the acre, and I estimate this year will yield 15 bushels.

7013. To pay expenses I estimate that a man would require 10 bushels, or say 31s. to 32s. an acre. Unquestionably a proper selection of wheat seed should increase the yield. Personally, I believe in the use of large machinery. I use a four-furrow mouldboard plough and eight in the disc.

7014. Why not use the six furrow?—I think that mine is the most convenient for handling a six-horse team. Bulk handling would reduce costs. I would use bags for conveyance from the farm to the siding, but the customs tariff makes the price of bags and machinery excessive. Farmers' requisites should come in free of duty.

7015. To Mr. PAYNTER: Last year I had rust and blight, septoria. I pickle and grade my wheat. I have tried artificial grasses and have been successful with Japanese millet. I have two and a half acres of that this year. I use fodder for my dairy cow. Fruit-trees and vegetables do well with me, but I do not raise pigs; still I have done a good deal in the poultry line, and with considerable success. The wages I pay for a harvester driver is £2 10s. and keep. The usual rate is 30s. and found. Personally, I would not be satisfied in this locality with less than 2,000 acres of land. A man single handed, devoting himself to team work, should be able to do from 250 to 300 acres annually. It certainly would be an advantage if farmers would co-operate for the purpose of supplies and marketing of produce, and though at the moment it might be difficult to bring about, nevertheless things are tending in that direction. In my own case I consider that the present land laws and prices are satisfactory.

7016. To Mr. VENN: We can produce fat lambs here.

7016A. What cross does best?—The merino, because you combine fat with wool. They are not the best freezing lambs, but then we have no freezing works, or indeed a market; but this district can produce the best class of lamb for freezing. At certain times of the year dairying would be profitable. A cow should milk with stubble for nine months in the year. My cows with a little feed go the whole year round. Last summer I made butter throughout the hot season. I sowed this crop in the middle of October, and last year in November; but I prefer the middle of September for Japanese millet, as then you can get the best germination. I do not touch it after I have sown it. I let it grow for six weeks, when it is fit to feed the stock. It is my second year with that, and so far there have been no summer rains, but it is on fallow land and the moisture in the soil would carry you through the summer.

7017. By the CHAIRMAN: What is your nearest market for the sale of sheep or cattle?—Midland Junction. Sometimes a few are sold locally, but only at odd times. We really have no market that we can depend on altogether.

(The witness retired.)

ELI BIGNELL, Farmer, Mt. Erin, sworn and examined:

7018. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been in this district about 12 years, and have no previous experience except that I was working in Victoria and South Australia on farms. In this State I was mining at Kalgoorlie. I hold 987 acres, 900 of which is arable land. It is part of a repurchased estate. Some of it is on Mt. Erin and 160 acres on the Chapman agricultural area. I paid 15s. for the Mt. Erin land and 10s. for the Chapman area. I have three miles of cartage to the station. I have 600 acres cleared. It is all sheep-proof fenced and subdivided, and I have a good well of water. I am a married man with seven children. The school is only 100 yards away. I have a six-roomed house, two of stone and four of iron, a stable for my horses, but no machinery shed. I have an ample farming plant with 13 working horses, about 100 sheep, and a couple of cows, and about 10 pigs. I had £300 when I took up the land and I have had to borrow from all sources, the W.A. Bank and the Agricultural Bank.

7019. Do you find the banks willing to find capital for you?—They turned me down last year. I bought a block of land from the bank, and on account of last year being a failure they would not undertake to carry me on. I sought assistance from the I.A.B. I owe £1,400 to the W.A. bank. I expect to owe £400 to March next to the I.A.B. That has been for bags and super, and I also owe money to the Agricultural Bank. I have 400 acres of crop; 110 acres were fallowed. I expect six bushels to the acre more off the fallow than from the other. I have only 110 acres of fallow because I could not get it all fallowed. I fallowed on to the end of August thinking I would get rain in September, but it did not fall. I sow one bushel of seed to the acre and 80 lbs. of super. My best return was about four years ago, when I got an 18-bushel average over 200 acres, and in the drought year there would not be more than three to four bushels to the acre. Last year I had 450 acres under the crop and got 570 bags, but that small quantity was owing to the rust. This year I think it will go 12 bushels to the acre. Four bags should pay expenses as I do most of the work myself. Sometimes I have to put a man on for a month or two. Mine is a three-furrow Shearer plough and a 10-furrow Shearer disc. I think the Shearer mouldboard is the best for all-round work. I am a believe in larger machinery as a means to reducing costs; so also bulk handling, particularly