it but booked it, and cost him £2 and eight percent. interest on that. We paid 10s. for a 50lb. bag of flour, while in Perth it only costs 7s. To-day we could send cash in to Wagin and buy cheaper than we can in Perth, but when the merchants control things it is vise versa. Wire that costs 36s. in Perth cost 45s. locally, and the storekeeper reduced it to 39s. when I growled. We are paying from 20 to 40 per cent. more than the rest of the community for our goods, and our wheat is controlled. I think we should control the trade to some extent. The cost of credit is far too great, and if something is not done, 80 per cent. of us must go under. At the same time there are men here who should not be on the land. We do not farm properly, we are only playing with it. For instance, last year we scratched in with a cultivator 80 acres, and got between 10 and 11 bushels, but that was only luck. From our cows my wife is now making 30s. a week, and she has made as much as 50lbs. of butter in a week for six mouths at a time. I lent a cow to a neighbour for two years, and when he returned her he told me he had made £50 out of her. They have reduced the quality and increased the prices of the articles which are supplied to the farmer. Half the trouble we have is with the inspector. The good fellow who works, and has to continuously pay a great deal more for his necessaries than is fair and equitable, gradually gets his heart broken, and if he is a hard worker he is no better off than the idler. Our trade should therefore be controlled in some way or other.

8439. By the CHAIRMAN : Have you had any assistance or advice as to farming methods from any of the experts at the Agricultural Department, from Mr. Sutton for instance?- I have never heard of Mr. Sutton, and I am quite sure that the department is not in touch with the farmer. For instance, we want information about dairying. It would be a great assistance to the farmer.

8440. You mean that the Agricultural Department should be so altered so as to become a business institution, and not a philanthropic institution?- Yes, Our rainfall is 14 inches.

8441. By Mr. VENN : You think then that dairying can be made to pay here? The cows would pay us even if they only milked for 6 months in the year.

(The witness retired.)

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WALKER JOHN FAULKNER, Farmer, Springhurst Mail, East Dumbleyung, sworn and examined :

8442. By the CHAIRMAN : How long have you been in this district?- Since 1914. I have been farming all my life. I was for 10 years in the Wagin district. I hold 1,580 acres all first class forest land. I bought the property two years ago fro 28s. an acre; 1,000 acres us priced by the Government at 8s. and the balance at 10s. I have 15 miles of cartage to the railway, it is all ring fenced with three wires. I am fencing 300 acres for sheep. I have 600 acres cleared. I have a 1,200 cubic yard dam, and also a 1,000 cubic yard dam 10 feet deep. They have never yet been dry. There is also a big Government dam near me. I am a married man with one child, and I have a bat house which costs £200, and bush stables, a set of implements, 12 working horses, 13 young horses and old mares, six head of cattle. I had £3,700 capital when I started. I have 400 acres in crop doing 12 bushels.

8443. By Mr. PAYNTER : How much of that was fallow?—Only 38 acres last season, but I believe in fallow. However, owing to the bog I have only 120 acres this season. Bunyip went well last year. This year it is not so good. Walker's and Scotch Wonder went well. I pickle and winnow my grain. We suffer from frost here. I use 75 lbs. of super. to the acre To put in and take off a crop costs 33s., including everything. Two years ago ploughing cost 5s., and I had to find horse feed. It takes 13 hours to cart in to the railway and return. Last year I had 20 bushels off a small area, and an average of 13½ bushels over the whole. The tariff is a great incubus on the industry. Bags cost me £52. One bale of bags cost £14 14s., and that is far too high a price. Clearing costs 23s. Bulk handling would be a great advantage, but I have no experience of it beyond the newspaper articles on the subject. If it was introduced, I thought of using a squatter's tank for the purpose. Pigs and poultry are profitable. I employ one man all the year round at £2 a week. A man should have 2,000 acres in this district at least, and he should have 400 acres cleared before he gets either horses or implements. I can do 400 acres with a thresher myself. I am well satisfied with the price of land. The other conditions are satisfactory.

8444. By the CHAIRMAN : Do you consider this district has good prospects?- It is undoubtedly a good district.

8445-6. n By Mr PAYNTER : Do you think bulk handling can be applied here?- Yes, with small tanks a farmer could get his harvest off. In a couple of years the farmer would save the cost of his bags. (The witness retired.)

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FREDERICK JOHN FOSTER, Farmer, Springhurst Mail, East Wagin, sworn and examined :

8447. By the CHAIRMAN : How long have you been in this district?—Since 1912. I have had no previous experience of farming. I was a timber merchant. I hold 1.145½ acres, priced at 12s. and 10s.; 600 acres are first class, 300 second class and the balance poor country, 12 miles from the railway. It is all ring fenced with three wires and jam posts 12 feet apart; 400 acres are cleared. I have a dam 8 feet deep of 1,919 cubic yards, which has been permanent up to the present. I am a married man with four children. I have sent one of them away to school. My house is partly iron and hessian with two rooms. I have no stables. I have a set of implements, five working horses, a cow, a calf and a colt. I had £350 capital when I came here and I owe £1,000 to the Agricultural Bank, the Industries Assistance Board and other creditors. I have 250 acres of crop going nine bushels. I cannot make farming pay without sheep. I have a Government dam near by; at present I can carry 200 sheep with a little wire and a yard on account of the dingo trouble. When we are dealing with the grocer, for instance, we are charged interest for three months on our accounts and 10 per cent. per annum on our interest that has accumulated. But we do not get any interest on our wheat money. The cost of our credit is quite undue. It is possible for us to get