That criticism is due largely to the fact that a chemist is left to work alone, and that he is not given the opportunity of working in close conjunction with actual farm practice. His could be done on experimental plots, and a chemist after making his analyses and drawing his theories would go to the farm and see how those theories were working out in practice. He would then alter his conclusions according to the result of the practical experience. But he is not allowed to do this. The practical man and the chemist are not brought sufficiently into touch. If that were done, it would be possible for the chemist to give more definitive advice than he is able to do at the present time.

9038. In working up standards for countries there are necessarily so many differences to be taken into account that it is a long time before the standard is a guide? - Yes.

9039. By Mr VEEN: Have you made analyses of the Stirling Estate? - Yes. The soils there vary tremendously; they vary from sand to sour swamp. I made the analyses in 1907 and put in a special report. My recommendations were not carried out. The opinion expressed was that the whole trouble was that the estate was not correctly cut up. If the settlers had had pieces of each class of country, it would have been a very different proposition.

9040. In the limestone part of that estate , does the soil show limestone? - There is lime all along that country where the tuart grows.

9041. By the CHAIRMAN: Have you had the opportunity of travelling about the State? - Yes; from time to time my duties have carried me to almost every part of the State.

9042. Have you any knowledge of the wheat belt to the east of Midland Railway? - I have been there several times. It seems to me that the soil is very patchy. For instance, there is what I have heard spoken of as sand-plain and there are intrusions of so called forest land which are comparatively good, so that you cannot generalise about the whole area. But the wooded tracts of darker soil seem to be quite good. Of course, they have the characteristics of what I would be inclined to call semi-arid areas. All soils in areas of that kind generally have an accumulation of plant foods because there is nothing to leach them away, but on the other hand, the very fact of the shortage of the rainfall and short growing season make it difficult for the crops to take full advantage of the plant foods in the soils. So far as the eastern tracts of good soil are concerned, the principal problems of agriculture seem to me to centre around the question of conversation of moisture. There are two main ways of doing that. There is that of increasing the humus contained in the soil, and there is that of fallowing. On the other hand, with fallowing, you have to consider the important question of the conservation of the nitrogen. I know there are differences of opinion with regard to the value of fallowing, and there is the danger that in fallowing at certain seasons you may lose the nitrogen, you may decrease the plant foods in the soil even while you are improving the moisture conservation. In 1905, the Government bacteriologist and I submitted a report to the Director of Agriculture suggesting a more or less systematic examination into the question of soil bacteriology. We know nothing about the soil bacteria in the eastern districts, and it seems as if there must be very active bacterial life in the soil because, speaking generally, those soils seem from chemical analysis to have a small stock of nitrogen, and yet there seems to be no difficulty in obtaining good hay yields. That would indicate that what nitrogen is there is probably rendered largely available for the plant by the action of the bacteria in the soil.

9043. Would that be common to our wheat lands? - I think it is quite likely. We have a climate which is favourable to bacterial growth. It is a fact that a large proportion of our native plants are leguminous, and we know that these plants have the power of taking nitrogen from air, and it is possible that those plants have been one of the factors on the productivity of the soil.

9044. By Mr VEEN: Have you made an analysis of the Wodgil land? - Some samples were submitted to my department, but I took no part in the enquiry.

9045. By Mr PAYNTER: Different soils and different climates account for different degrees of soil bacteria? - That is so. Bacterial activity is greater in well limed soils than it is in soils deficient in lime. Some very interesting facts were brought out in connection with that in some experience which I conducted in my laboratory in 1913. I was anxious to see what were the conditions which were governing the development of strength in the flour obtained from wheat. It was really studying wheat from the milling point of view. I conducted experiments on the influence of lime and got some very interesting results. I found that the strength and the percentage of nitrogen in the grain were increased by the addition of lime to the soil. It was probably largely due to the increased bacterial activity which was promoted in the soil by the lime, and it seemed to throw an interesting light on some of the facts which have been apparent in this State as regards the changes which take place in strong wheats when growing here. In some respects they retain their strength, but the quantity of gluten which they contain decreases. The quality, however, was there, but although the gluten seemed to get stronger there was less of it. There was a reduction of nitrogen on the grain. This indicated that the addition of the lime would improve the quality of the wheat.

9046. By the CHAIRMAN: Where do we go to get any insight into the principles which should govern the application of lime? - Every text book an agricultural chemistry contains a lot of information about it. I do not think that there is very much difference of opinion possible about the classes of soils which require lime. The question as far as this State is concerned is entirely wrapped up in the obtaining of supplies of lime at a sufficiently cheap rate. You cannot get farmers to apply lime to their soils in the quantities necessary, because lime is not, after all, a soil medicine. Lime to be of any use has to be added in large quantities. In England it is a common practice to add up to four tons of lime to the acre, and if you are going to talk to the person about applying a hundred weight to the acre, the thing will be useless. Therefore, you must make it possible for farmers to get lime at a cheap rate, and it must be applied at something like 10s. a ton.