7246. To the CHAIRMAN: I have 400 acres cleared, all fenced and subdivided. I am a married man with several children, one of whom should be at school, but unfortunately that has been closed up on account of the insufficient attendance. I have two good wells. I live in a humpy. I have an iron stable, no implement shed; iron is too dear to buy just now. I have a full set of implements, six working horses, three cows, about 300 sheep, and half a dozen pigs. When I came here I bought £400, that included stock, and I borrowed £800 from the Agricultural Bank. I owe the Industries Assistance Board for rent and the £12 a month they pay me. I cannot say exactly what I owe, but it will be over £200. In addition I owe £200 or £300 outside that.

7247. Have the experts of the Department of Agriculture afforded you any advice as to methods of farming, seed, and so on?—I have never seen any of them yet.

7248. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 300 acres under crop. There was some fallow but we ploughed it all over again. There were only about 30 acres altogether. There appears to be no difference in the crops. In previous years I have had fallow, and the year before last about 80 acres. My son said that if it did not turn out 20 bushels from the fallow he would not put any more in; he has now gone to the war. We got nine bushels, and we could have got just as much if we had scratched it in. Three years ago we got 500 bags from 300 acres. I have not sold 2,000 bags of wheat in seven years. This year the crop will go nine bushels, and it takes 12 bushels to pay expenses. I am not employing any labour. I have been growing both early and late wheats, and they are about alike. I have Bunyip, Federation, "Seventy-three," and Yandilla King this year, but no Gluyas. There is only one early wheat, and the rest are late wheats. I have also some Comeback. Bags are a very grave consideration just now, and bulk handling ought to make a lot of difference in consequence. I have not gone into the question of tariff.

7249. To Mr. PAYNTER: Last year I pickled my wheat. There is a better sample this year, and no smut in it. I put it through the winnower. I have not tried fodder crops or artificial grasses. I think the ground is too shallow for fruit trees, but vegetables do all right. I have not raised pigs. To make a decent living in this district a man should not have less than 2,000 acres, and he could handle 250 acres himself. Co-operation is a good move, and the farmers are all talking about it now. Eventually I think they will be brought together. I do not think that the conditions of land settlement can be considered good so far back as we are here.

7250. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you think the settlers are going to make a success of their venture?—Those who go in for mixed farming will. Personally I would not like to ask the Government to do more than they are doing now. Still, if the bank would do so they might pay the back debts to the storekeepers. We would have to pay individually ten or twelve per cent. for the accommodation, but if handled by the government we might have it at six per cent., which makes a big difference. For instance, I owe £200 or £300 outside, and my creditors are buying out of their money, whereas if the bank would take the liability over they could get their money and we would have only the one party to deal with. They have inspectors to advise them whether the security in each case would be good enough. I think the farmers could improve matters by having more fallow.

7251. Do you think if you put in half your area in fallow you would have more wheat?—I think so, but at the same time my experience of fallow so far has not been very favourable.

7252. To Mr. VENN: Clearing costs 20s. in jam country, and only for the sheep I do not know what we would have done. They are the best paying line of all. The bank assisted me to get them. As long as there is water there is plenty of feed, as the sand-plain comes in well for them. We usually get water here at about 30ft. My two wells are good enough for anything, in fact the water is as good as rain water. They would carry as much stock as 2,000 acres would carry. The depth of soil varies from 6in. to 6ft. It is deep in the pockets and shallow on the hillside.

7253. To Mr. CLARKSON: If my liabilities were funded and I was given ten years for repayment and permitted to retain the proceeds of the present crop I would make great progress, especially if we could get the bank to pay up the back debts. Nevertheless, the present system is good enough provided the back debts are paid.

                                                                                           (The witness retired.)

                                                                                                   —————

WILLIAM AYLING, of William Ayling and John Findlay, Farmers, Hutt, sworn and examined:

7254. To the CHAIRMAN: We have been settled here six years, but had no previous experience of farming. I was a baker and my partner was a seaman. We have 1,800 acres. The rent of one block has been reduced to 11s. 6d., and the rent of the other is 13s. 6d. and has not yet been reduced. There are 800 acres of first class land, and we are 3½ miles from the railway. The balance of the land is sand-plain and scrub and stony. We have cleared 600 acres; all has been fenced and subdivided into four paddocks. Our water supply consists of two good wells, one on each block. One is 40ft. and the other 45ft. deep. My partner is a married man with four children. I am unmarried. My partner has three children who should attend school, but unfortunately it has been closed. I have an iron house with five rooms, an iron stable, a bush machinery shed, a full set of implements, nine working horses, 200 sheep, and two cows. Nearly £1,000 has been put into the holding; £890 was borrowed from the Agricultural Bank. We owe the I.A.B. about £1,000, and outside that about £200.

7255. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have 320 acres in crop; 30 acres is fallow and it looks better than the other. I ploughed that all through wet and dry. The 30 acres were ploughed in July to tree or four inches, rolled with a T-board roller, and cultivated with a disc cultivator. We sow a bushel of seed to the acre and from 100lbs. of super down to 80lbs., sowing the same amount of seed on both light and heavy lands. For the last two years we have had no crops. The highest average yield was 12 bushels over 150 acres in 1913. This year it will be about nine bushels. What makes it worse this year is the rain not coming.