3,800 yards capacity, and another dam 10 feet deep, 1,100 yards capacity. Both are permanent. There is also a Government dam of 3,000 yards. We paid 1s. a yard for the 1,100 yard dam, and sunk the other ourselves. The present price would be 1s. 3d. per thousand yards. My brother and I are married. My brothers house is weatherboard; mine is a bush house. I have two children not of school age. The nearest school is eight miles away. I have stables and the necessary farm buildings, set of implements, 22 working horses, three cows, six young heifers, a bull, couple of steers, 50 pigs, and 360 sheep, which are shepherded. We had £400 capital when we started, and borrowed £2,700 from private people, and £400 from the Agricultural Bank on one block. We owe Henry Wills and Co. about £350 on the sheep, and about £300 to merchants. We have 850 acres under crop averaging eight bushels. The rainfall is supposed to be about 14 inches.

8279. By Mr. PAYNTER: How much of your crop was fallow?-- 560 acres. We plough three inches and give it one cultivation before seeding. I think Walker's has done very well with us. The variety was brought over here by Isaac Baston. We sow a bushel to the acre and 56lbs. of super. Fourteen bushels was our highest yield. That was in 1909. It cost 35s. to put in and take off a crop, but that does not include wages. The tariff adds exceedingly to our cost of production. An article costing £50 has 10 per cent. added, and a percentage on the duty when the account is paid is added as well as the profit. We have had no disease in our crops. We pickle and grade our seed. We have a six-furrow and a four-furrow plough, and use eight horses in the former, and do eight acres a day. We have a State Implement Works cultivator cutting about seven feet, which does 12 acres a day; a 15-drill, which does 20 acres; and a binder, which does 15. We have a Sunshine and May Bros. harvester each 5ft. 6in., and with the latter we do six acres a day. Wages are £2 a week and keep, but the labour is not satisfactory. The working hours are about 14 a day. A man should have 1,500 to 2,000 acres in this district to make a decent living, and before getting horses and implements he should have at least 500 acres cleared. If I had 1,500 acres I would let a contract for clearing 600. The maximum area that a man should perform himself with help at harvest time would be about 500 acres. The price of the land here is too high, but 10s. or 15s. is not out of the way for good farming land. Second class land is not worth more than 6s., while as for third class land it should cost nothing beyond the improvements. The system of loans from the Agricultural Bank should put a man on a sound footing. We have no time or money to clear more land. All our money is put into clearing; 50 per cent. has been spent on fallow. We have done all the work ourselves with assistance at harvest time. In addition I act as agent, and earn £200 a year, but all that goes into the farm. We also do our own repairs. As soon as we got our crop in we went on ringbarking, but our crop was a failure. We prepared for sheep, and have been looking to our crop to get netting, and have got into debt as a consequence. We were never able to borrow in one sum so as to enable us to net the place and put stock on. We have enough acres and water for 1,000 sheep all the year round. We lost 150 acres last week from fires, and if we had had sheep that would have been eaten down. We lost 2s. 6d. per acre of sheep feed on the stubble. Sheep keep the fallow clean. Bags used to be 4s. 2d. in Wagin per dozen; this year they are 11s. , and every year have increased in price, as do harvesters and farming machinery. Three years ago bags were 8s. The Agricultural Bank should supply netting to approved farmers. Second class land should be developed by depasturing sheep and by allowing cheap tenure.

(The witness retired.) _________________

JOSIAH HOYLE, Farmer, Colunio, Toolabin, sworn and examined:

8280. By the CHAIRMAN: How long have you been in the district?-- I came here in 1907 from England. I had no previous experience of farming. I was in the textile industry in Burnley. Five members of my family intended to work on co-operative lines. I hold 1,100 acres, but the land is too flat. It is a mile from the siding and is all fenced, 700 acres with sheep-proof fencing and the rest with three wires. I have 470 acres cleared. My water supply is a 10ft. damn, 1,100 yards capacity. There is another 7ft. deep, 400 yards capacity, but we actually rely on the Government dam. I am a widower. My wife is buried out there on the sandplain. I have a set of implements, 12 working horses, two cows, two heifers, four steers, four pigs, and 500 sheep. I owe the Agricultural Bank £316 and the Industries Assistance Board £338. From the later I got seed and manure in 1915, but they were not supplied until the 19th June, and when it did come part of it was maize. I have 280 acres in crop averaging nine bushels.

8281. By Mr. PAYNTER: How many of it was fallow?-- 140, and it was the worst yield of the lot. I plough four inches deep, and cultivate once before seeding. I have used Federation and Lott's, putting 60lbs. of seed and 50lbs. of super to the acre. To put in and take off a crop costs from 32s. to 35s. per acre. My son and I do all the work. My highest average yield was in 1913, 12 bushels. I have a six-furrow plough and a three-furrow Shearer. In regard to the tariff I think that direct taxation would be far preferable. A man should have at least 1,000 acres in this district, and 600 acres should be cleared before he goes in for plant and horses. He should be able to do 300 acres a year on his own. I consider that the price of decent land and sandplain is far too high. I think it would be a great advantage to the settler if a series of technical lectures could be delivered in the country districts by the departmental officials.

(The witness retired.) _________________

MICHEAL MATTHEW WHITE, Farmer, The Jungle, East Narrogin, sworn and examined:

8282. By the CHAIRMAN: How long have you been in the district?-- I came here in 1908, and was brought up on a farm in New South Wales. I have 1,750 acres; 300 are first class, and the balance second class and third class. I paid 10s. and 6s. 9d. for 756 acres. The property is a mile from the railway. 1,500 acres are sheep-proof fenced, subdivided into five paddocks, and 275 are cleared. 150 acres are burnt down. I have a permanent supply in a dam 9½ feet deep of 1,250 cubic yards capacity. I am a married man, but have no children. I have a four-