HERBERT JOHN McDOUGALL, Brook View,

       Narrogin, sworn and examined :

8316. By the CHAIRMAN : I understand you have a short statement to make to us ? - Yes. I may say that I have tried dairying and wheat growing and am full up of both. I took on sheep. I have fallow now. A man must crop every second or third year. The land is no good for grazing alone and no good for agriculture alone. There is a lot of what is called first class land, but it is not first class, and, moreover, it has poison, and it would be dear if a man took it up free for clearing the poison. I have a cousin at Wallaway Plain who makes £5 a week from cows without feeding them. The land here is very patchy, and the poison country should be differently treated, but of course there must be some rental paid in order to have a hold over it. It is a big expense to clear, and not worth a great deal when it is cleared. In the Harrismith area our land is about half of it first class and the rest is hungry, for which they charged 11s., while they charged 10s. for the other. I am clearing salmon and morrel on my place. If there was a decent rainfall the morel gives the most wheat. It is not the price of the land that is the handicap to us out here so much as the want of suitable and reliable labour.

( The witness retired )
                                                            -------------

WILLIAM GLASHEEN, Farmer, Harrismith,

sworn and examined :

8317. By the CHAIRMAN : How long have you been in the district ? - I came here in 1911. I had been all my life Farming in Victoria. I hold 1,000 acres, of which 800 is first class and the balance third class. The price is 10s. The land is 2½ miles from the railway ; 700 acres are fenced and 600 acres cleared. I have dams, one 1,200, and the other 800 cubic feet capacity, 10 feet deep. I cannot call them permanent and I could go deeper. My dams are not covered. I am a married man, with three children, one attends school four miles away. I have a bat house, bush stables, machinery shed, set of implements, eight working horses, 100 sheep, 50 pigs, and two cows. I started with £200 capital, and owe the Agricultural Bank £800, Industries Assistance Board and creditors £450. I have 300 acres in crop going 12 bushels.

8318. I understand you have some statement to give us in connection with bacon and pork ? - Yes, particularly in regard to bacon curing. I started here with a few pigs, and found there was a demand at the time for bacon and ham. I have about 50 pedigree pigs, and my place is suitable for the industry. I have conveniences which are cool and fly proof for preserving bacon. My intention was to be in a position to sell my product to the storekeeper in return for stores. Any surplus that I have can easily be disposed of locally. Today, for instance, it would cost you 1s 10d. a lb.. more for it. I smoke it. I sugar and salt - cure it. The equipment is inexpensive, consisting of a brine pump, which cost £4, and the building £80. I am building proper sties at the present time at an outlay of £120. I have Berkshires. As my trade grows, I intend that my breeding shall grow with it. I have crushed 100 bags of wheat for my pigs this year. I produce bacon - which sells at 1s. 4d. - at 9d. a lb. cured and ready to sell. If I got 1s. a lb. for it there would still be a margin of 3d. I crop 300 acres and I have a three months run without any further expense. The bacon on the hoof up to 100lbs. weight costs 4d. To that has to be added interest, labour, depreciation, salt, and sugar. I use these commodities in the proportion of 12lbs. of salt, 6lbs. sugar, 12ozs. cream of tartar or saltpetre, 12ozs. of carbonate soda, and 6 gallons of boiling water. I have the advantages of the freight and the middle man. I went to work taking for my standard " Potts on Pigs " Last year I cured a limited amount of bacon and sent pigs direct to Nelson and Co ., which realised 7 ¾d. They went from 120 to 80lbs. dressed pork. The total expenses, including auctioneer's fees and agency, was 1d., but of course there is this to be said against it, that if everybody went in for it, and if had competition, the position would be altogether different.

                                       ( The witness retired. )