the average wages that I have paid for five years have been £49 18s. 3d. a year. I have had one man at a time. Some of the labour is satisfactory, but to make a living out of it a man should have 1,000 acres at least. The holdings here are not big enough. A man ought to be able to do 250 to 300 acres himself. Co-operation would be the finest thing we could have to reduce the costs. Here is a small example. My engine ran down and I sent away to Geraldton for a battery. That cost me 35s. I ought to get four batteries for 15s. It is the same with everything that we buy. We get had every time and it is quite clear that we cannot go on as we have been, and I think that at last the farmers are coming together in this matter. With regard to the present land laws and regulations I think most people would do anything to get out of the land, yet no land was ever taken up more easily or under better conditions than the land here, and no one has complained, but I would like to point this out, that his particular area is not like the bulk of the land. It is a good size, but there is no water supply except one well, and the Agricultural Bank would do wisely to advance money liberally for the construction of dams, of, say, 2,000 yards on each holding. This country is good holding land. Then, we could keep sheep without any water difficulty. They certainly have advanced money for dams in the past, and we have all had the experience of dam contractors, and only one of them up here was any good. They ask about 2s. 6d. a yard, and when they have gone about 8ft. they get frightened of it and turn it up. I think there should be a £2 license exacted on kangaroo dogs which frighten the sheep, but you never see a dingo in this district. I can only hope that we all may get a living as a result of this present Royal Commission, and if we do that it will be a great thing.

7066. If you get a water supply, can you establish yourself profitably on the land?—I think so, but some drastic alteration is needed in the matter of the tariff duties.

7067. To Mr VENN: At the present time I could carry 200 ewes all the year round. I have saltbush on my land, but if the whole of my 733 acres was improved I could carry 500 sheep all the year round.

(The witness retired.)

WILLIAM HAROLD STAFFORD ROSKAMS, Farmer, West Yuna, sworn and examined:

7068. By the CHAIRMAN: I have been here since 1910 and have had no previous experience of farming. I was employed by Messrs. Goode, Durrant, and Co. I took up 1,520 acres and 800 acres of that is first class land. The balance is mallee and good sandplain country. I have 2½ miles cartage to the railway. I have cleared 600 acres and it is all fenced. I am not married, unfortunately. I have a lean-to shed of iron and wood. I put it up when I first came here and I am still living in it. I have stables for the horses and an implement shed. The water supply is from dams, and these went through the 1914 drought without drying up. The largest is 1,113 cubic yards, 10ft. deep. It cost 1s. 3d. a yard to contract. I have a set of implements and six working horses, a sulky, pony, and a foal. in the first five years, that is from 1910 to 1915, I spent £2,224, that includes an advance from the Industries Assistance Board up to January, 1915. I have 380 acres cropped. one hundred and twenty five acres was fallow. I stripped the fallow for 13 bushels. I have 80 acres which will not pay to touch. The other will not be as good as the fallow. The highest yield I have had was 14 bushels over 230 acres. It costs me about 8s. per acre to crop the land. No doubt bulk handling would reduce costs, but I have not considered the matter. The tariff, however, is one of the chief things that cripple us, and all our implements should be free of duty.

7069. To Mr PAYNTER: Last year I had rust. I pickle my wheat, but do not grade it. To make a living here a man should hold no less than 1,500 acres, and the most he could crop annually would be 300 acres in crop and 300 acres fallow. I consider that the land should be given to the farmer free of all rent for all time. His land is the asset that the State holds. Nevertheless, our own rent is very small comparatively.

7070. To Mr VENN: I do not run sheep because I have not the money to buy them. I am saving sufficient money out of my Industries Assistance Board allowance to buy three coils of wire to complete my fence so as to enable me to run sheep. I think I should run from 300 to 400 ewes. I have good sandplain, which grows good feed in summer, and there is no poison there.

7071. To Mr PAYNETER: For next year I have about 140 acres in fallow. Some of the costs weigh heavily on the farmer. For instance, I believe a harvester can be manufactured for £45, but we have to pay £120 for it. Another thing is I consider the Agricultural Bank should advance money to enable one to build a house. I want to get married, but so far I have been living in a bumpy for six years and doing my own cooking and I do not think I can stand it much longer. After this Commission has finished its work, I may say at once that it is a toss up whether I walk out of the farm or stay. I have not made a living out of it so far. That is probably due largely to bad seasons and the high cost of production. The 1914 drought was most disastrous. If there had been normal seasons I could have made a living on wheat growing alone, and if I had 300 ewes now I could make a living. Last year I had to plough my fallow twice, whereas if I had sheep, they would have kept it clean. Wheat growing alone, however, will not pay. If I had stock, I would not put in the same quantity of crop. I would put in 300 acres of fallow and 300 acres of crop and run sheep, and in normal seasons that would pay very well indeed.

(The witness retired.)

The Commission adjourned.