the steel mule on soft country the mud came through the caterpillar. We can do 18 to 20 acres with seven horses, cultivating 9ft. 6in. wide. The drill is a 13- disc, which is a mistake. We put the whole area in last year. We have harrows, but the ground is not clean enough to use them; the land is now cleared and we will use them in the future. I have a 6ft. Union harvester. We work two teams and do 14 acres a day. We have taken an average of 55 bags a day. Larger plant would reduce costs. The tariff is a farce. I cannot understand why some farmers believe in protection. I do not see why artisans should be paid 16s. a day. We have no protection in connection with the sale of wheat. Our bags, too, have a heavy duty on them, which really constitutes an export tax from India. I am supposed to represent the association here. Machinery prices are a heavy tax also. The harvester costs £120, and it ought to be £60, and other implements in proportion. We should not pay artisans 16s. a day, and allow the farmer to be robbed to that extent. Duplicate parts are another enormous tax upon us. For a ¾in. spindle we paid 15s., and 2s. freight on about 2lbs. of weight of iron. We would have a better chance with bigger machinery and teams. The price of bags is a very serious matter, and they would be reduced if we had bulk handling. Therefore , we are anxious to see bulk handling installed. I understand that the grain can be carted in bulk or in bags, and that the same bags could be used over and over again. I have had no disease in the crops. I pickle, but do not grade the seed. I have tried vegetables, but the climate beat me. You could not grow cabbages. It is a question of buying vegetables from town cheaply. I consider pigs to be the most unprofitable domestic animals on a farm. We would require to feed them on F.A.Q. wheat. Pigs do not thrive here because they get nothing but wheat, and we cannot grow green stuff for them. Moreover, we have no paddocks for them. One pig costs us £10, and we get rid of it for £5 10s. A man should have 600 acres cleared before he gets machinery or horses. On the other hand, the land should not stay long before it is cultivated. A man could only do a little over 200 acres himself annually. I think the Government have been wrong in exacting rent for the first five years. What has been paid in the past should be refunded to the new settler. They advance £1 an acre to clear the land, and with the other hand they extract the rents, which is most reprehensible. They have robbed the farmer at the very time he should have all his resources in hand, and he is exhausted at the time when he most wants money.

8208. By Mr. VENN : Are rabbits troublesome?- They are dying off on thousands, and it is only near the water that they are living. If the dams were fenced we would find very few rabbits left. They started to die six weeks ago. Nevertheless, the few that are left will rapidly increase. I intend to go for sheep later on. There re not many dingoes here. Out of the six years that I have been here there have been two dry ones, in which you could not grow wheat. We have six months dry weather at a stretch, and moisture cannot be conserved that length of time. The climate is not like New South Wales, where they have thunderstorms in the summer. I feel sure that this district will prove superior to Kellerberrin. The rainfall is easily 13 inches. I am also satisfied that we will make a success of farming here. (The witness retired.) STEPHEN THACKERY JONES, Farmer, Korrikin, Corrigin, sworn and examined :

8209. By the CHAIRMAN : How long have you been in this district?- Since 1909. I am the pioneer settler here, and am also chairman of the roads board. Before coming here I spent six months on the State farm at Narrogin, but I have been all my life connected with farming. I have 1,460 acres, of which 1,100 acres are first class. The balance is second class, sandplain and rocks. The price is 10s. I have to cart seven miles to the railway. It is all fenced in, and 400 acres are cleared. My water supply consists of a dam 10 feet deep and 1,070 cubic yards capacity. It is still three parts full. I could sink deeper, but possibly I might strike salt. I am a married man, but have no children. My house is of bush timber. I have stables and a barn of iron, also a machinery shed, a full set of implements, seven working horses, four other horses, 130 sheep, three cattle, two pigs and poultry. I had £600 capital when I started. I owe the Agricultural Bank about £800 and the Industries Assistance Board about £300 including all creditors. I have 290 acres of crop averaging 14 bushels.

8210. By Mr. PAYNTER : How much of that is fallow?- None of it. I am starting it now, and have 50 acres already done. I have ploughed as deep as seven inches, but half that depth is preferable. Federation and Gluyas are the most suitable wheats here. I sow 45lbs. of Federation and 60lbs. of Gluyas, with 45 and 56lbs. of super. respectively. The highest average yield I have had this year. Hired labour costs me £40, bags £20, super. £35, rations for the year £45, repairs £15, rent and interest £101, making a total of £266, that is without including my own labour. That would amount to the equivalent of six bushels. We have our own milk, poultry, butter and mutton. I used a three furrowed plough with five horses on new land and do three acres a day, and on old land 4½ acres. I have a 17-cultivator which does 12 acres, a 13 drill that does 11 acres; a binder on a three ton crop will do about 7 acres. I have a reaper thrasher that I have scrapped, and use a 6ft. Sunshine harvester that does nine acres a day. A reaper thrasher costs £200, and it only took off about 200 acres. Larger plant and machinery would reduce costs. The tariff is a great burden upon us. Bulk handling is the right thing. It wold cost £50 to erect a silo. I would elevate it out of the field into the silo, so as to be ready when I came here to the railway. I pickle, but do not grade my wheat. Fruit trees do splendidly with me and so do vegetables, although the growing season is short. I pay 35s. a week wages and keep. The average hours worked are 11 to 12 daily. To make a living off the land a man should have 1,000 acres, and he ought to be able to do 300 acres himself annually. We should have five years rent free, together with the enforcement of the improved conditions. It is wrong that the country should be allowed to be tied up by speculators who are not developing the land.

8211. By Mr. VENN : Are the rabbits troublesome? I have lost three bushel per acre on 260 acres through them . Last year I do not think it would be two bags on the same area. About six weeks ago there were dead rabbits everywhere. They are so numerous round the salt lakes that you can knock them over with a stick. Sheep do very well. We want encouragement to destroy dingoes and dogs that are unattended, and we should have power to destroy them. I have a good fence, but although I started with 151 sheep, in 12