Part 7

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£90 from the Industries Assistance Board last year. My other liabilities are less than £100. I had 300 acres of crop averaging five bushels. The rabbits will beat us unless the Government help with wire netting. The rainfall is all right up to the present and in fact it is good. I do not think anyone here has had a chance yet as regards the best methods of farming. I have poisoned numbers of rabbits on my land. We have applied to the Government in reference to Crown leases and lands left by men who have gone to the war. These are simply breeding grounds for rabbits. My son had an accident and I had to go for 12 miles to borrow a buggy to take him in 80 miles to the nearest doctor, and if I had not had some knowledge of first aid my son would have bled to death. We are badly in want of a district nurse.

8420. Mr. VENN : Usually a district nurse is paid £100 a year, half of which would have to be found by the settlers, and a nurse who has had 26 cases is entitled to a certificate from a doctor, but of course there are neither nurses not doctors just now. (The witness retired.) ---/--- GEORGE LAWSON, King Edward Farm, Lake Grace, sworn and examined :

8421. By the CHAIRMAN : How long have you been in this district?- Since 1911. I had previous experience of farming in the north of Scotland and in the south of England. I hold 1,300 acres, 900 acres first class and the balance sand plain and mallee and poison. The price is 15s. 6d. I have three miles cartage to the railway ; 500 acres are fenced and 500 cleared. There are two dams, one of 800 and the other 350 yards. The smaller one has stood longer than some of the larger dams in the district, but it has a rocky bottom. I am a married man with two children attending school three miles away. I have a humpy for my house, bush stables, iron shed, set of implements, nine working horses, a cow and some pigs. I had £200 capital when I started and borrowed £450 from the Agricultural Bank. My other liabilities amount to £500. I have 490 acres of crop going 11 bushels. My land is a little heavier than that of my neighbours.

8422.. By Mr. PAYNTER : How much fallow did you have?- None, but a good deal was fallowed the year before- about 150 acres. It was ploughed with a disc plough and cultivated with spring tines once. I plough four to five inches, and have been most successful with Lott's, or Champion as it is called here. I sow 45lbs. of seed and the same quantity of super to the acre. I do not pickle or grade my wheat. I had a little smut this year. I have eight disc and four furrow mouldboard ploughs, and use eight horses which do from six to seven acres a day. I do nine acres with the cultivator and 12 to 13 acres with a 15 disc drill. I do not use harrows. I have a 6ft Sunshine harvester and do nine acres a day. To put in and take off a crop, including ploughing, cultivating, drilling, super and harvesting, without bags, interest or depreciation, would cost 15s. Clearing costs 25s. The tariff bears heavily on the farmer. I am a free trader. Bulk handling would be a benefit and would bring a better price for the wheat, which is handled disgracefully. Poultry do well here. I employ one man at £2 a week and his keep. He works nine hours a day. Any man in this district should have 900 acres cleared to give him a good start, and to warrant the purchase of horses and machinery he should have not less than 400 acres cleared. He should crop annually 300 acres. I was disappointed with my land. It is too dear on account of the poison. I am paying rent on a lot of worthless land. I have not applied for a reduction. In other respects the regulations are satisfactory. What spoilt us was the carriage of stores from Dumbleyung, together with 10 miles carting of water. My capital was gone before we were properly started. The railway was completed three months ago. The freights are very heavy, especially on small articles.

8423. By the CHAIRMAN : What is your opinion of the district?- The district is all right, but many things could be done to make it more agreeable for married people to live in. We are so far away from a doctor, but, fortunately, the people here are all healthy. A motor car which would take in a sick person if necessary would be a boon here, and so would telephone communication. However, I think that I personally will make a success of it if I have good seasons. I do not think the land has had a fair show yet. It has not been thoroughly tested. last year I had a small piece of fallow which gave me 29 bushels, while the other land only yielded 8 bushels. This year I find the land fallowed last year gives two bushels more. My heavy land will take time to sweeten. It is friable clay. (The witness retired.) ---/--- MORICE JAMES BENNETT, Farmer, Lake Grace, sworn and examined :

8424. To the CHAIRMAN : I hold 2,000 acres two miles from the railway, at 14s. an acre; 200 acres are enclosed, none cleared, but 300 acres ringbarked. I have been working with another brother - not the one that has given evidence. We have a farm at Dumbleyung also, but we have no plant or stock on it. We are badly in want of a telephone and also of a doctor. The rabbits are becoming a great scourge.