Agricultural Bank, and I owe about £1,000 to the Industries Assistance Board. I have 355 acres in crop going about nine bushels. My average all through has been 6¾ bushels for 10 years. Sheep are by far the best paying item on the farm.

8524-5. Have you any statement you would care to make to the Commission?—I consider that the system of classification is unfair. I appealed against my classification and Mr. Bath gave me to understand that I had little hope. An inspector came down and said it was suitable for apple culture. I consider there should be a board of practical farmers to decide the point, not Government nominees. I have put as much as 112lbs of manure to the acre and got nothing at all from it. The tariff is no good for the farmer or for the country at large, and there will be a reaction. The great proportion falls on the farmer. It is not only the cost of living; it is the machinery and everything that we use that carries excessive prices. We use so many implements. We are against further protection. We are in favour of bulk handling. We are paying 16s. a day to lumpers and we are earning nothing ourselves, we who grow the crop. We want a cheap method of handling our wheat. Bulk handling on Canadian lines would be all right, but we have to consider labour conditions. The price of bags is ridiculously high. I paid 12s. 6d. a dozen recently. If we can by mechanical appliances defeat the labour it will be a saving. Labour is too aggressive and reacts on the farmer. "Applicants who desire the price of land reduced on account of the present poison are informed that no reduction can be made until arrears of rent are paid up." This makes a farce of the regulations. This year my fallow has turned out the worst. It averaged seven or eight bushels only. It was ploughed early and put in first. It was finished by the 10th August. I did not touch it until seeding time. If I shut off the fertiliser it will leave a fire break on my land. To show you how poor I am I may say that at the present moment I am in the trousers I was married in. I would like to know what the position is with regard to the wheat question, and how the money will be paid over to us?

(The witness retired.) _________________

HURTLE LESLIE BAIRSTOW, Farmer, Nippering, sworn and examined:

8526. By the CHAIRMAN: I understand you wish to make a statement to the Commission?—I desire to place before you the resolutions passed by the public meeting held here last Saturday and presided over by Mr. Lindsay (see Appendix). I came here in 1908. All my life previously I have been farming at Red Hill, South Australia. I hold 640 acres, of which 450 are first class. I have 300 acres sheep-proof fenced and 300 acres are cleared. I have two soaks, which are now dry. I am a married man with one child and have a four-roomed stone house, an iron shed and bush stables, a set of implements, five working horses, three young horses and two pigs. I had £120 capital when I came here and borrowed £100 from the Agricultural Bank. My wheat will more than pay all I owe this year. I have 200 acres of crop going 12 bushels and 20 bushels of oats. Of the 340 acres, I am clearing as I go. I have gone out to work a fair bit. I am satisfied with the prospects, but not with the conditions of the land. There are too much politics for me. I could have had all my land cleared and held some of the land adjoining, but for the fact that the price is too high.

(The witness retired.) _________________

OTTO MARTIN, Farmer, Nippering, sworn and examined:

8527. By the CHAIRMAN: How long have you been in this district?—I cam her in 1903. I had previous experience of farming at Clare, South Australia. I hold 1,400 acres; 700 first class, and am one mile from the railway. The price of the land is 10s. It is all sheep-proof fenced, and subdivided into eight paddocks. One thousand acres are cleared. I have two 500-yard dams and one 1,000-yard dam. They are all dry. I am married with six children. I have a brick house, all the necessary stables and sheds, 12 working horses, about seven other horses, 400 sheep, two pigs. I had £300 capital, farm implements, five horses, two cows, machinery and ploughs when I cam here. The National Bank has provided money for good men. My overdraft is about £1,000. I have 300 acres of crop going 15 bushels. I am fairly well satisfied with my position. I left Clare because I could not make a do of it. After I left they had good seasons and a boom. I sold out for 30s. an acre. Recently the same land brought £9. The cost of fencing, clearing, and water in this State is far too high. I think we are in a favoured spot here as the land is good, and the people in the neighbourhood are able to pay their way.

8528. By Mr. PAYNTER: How many acres were in fallow?—250. I plough four inches. I commence to fallow in July. Between ploughing and seeding I give it two cultivations, and the sheep are running on it in the meaning. In some of the paddocks I use the sheep only. I find Yandilla King the most suitable and other wheats. I use 45lbs of seed to the acre and 50 to 60lbs of super. I grade and pickle my wheat, and have no disease, although a few years ago there was smut. I have a five-furrow mouldboard plough with eight horses, and do five or six acres a day, a 16-tooth cultivator which does about 10 acres, a 13-disc drill which does 18 acres. I do not use the harrows. I have a 5ft 6in Sunshine harvester with which I do 10 acres a day by changing teams. We use a Massey-Harris as well, but it is a little heavier in draught. To put in and take off a crop cost 21s. for labour and super less depreciation, interest, bags and wheat. It cost perhaps a little more now. My highest average yield was 20 bushels. That was in 1913. I have not tried fodder crops. The climate is not suitable for fruit and vegetables, although stone fruit is the only variety that does well. Wages in harvest time are £2 and keep, and 30s. and keep for the rest of the year. A man should have from 1,000 to 1,500 acres of land here, and to warrant the purchase of implements and horses he should have 300 acres cleared. A good man ought to be able to do 250 acres yearly himself with a little help at harvest time. Ten shillings is a reasonable price for land here, but further out it is far too dear, being too far from railway facilities.

(The witness retired.)