Part 9

Page 641
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This transcription is complete

fenced and subdivided and equipped with buildings. I am a married man with six children. They come six miles to school. The water supply is in dams and wells in addition to which we have a river frontage. I cultivate from 600 to 850 acres, of which 700 acres is fallowed. The average yield is 12 bushels, the highest in any one year being 18 bushels in 1912. I use from 80 to 90lbs. of super. and one bushel of seed. The stubble paddocks are better after the heavier dressing. We have 20 draught horses and from 1,200 to 1,500 sheep, with a few pigs and cows. To make a decent living, a man should have 2,000 acres in this district. I think the present land laws satisfactory.

9679. To Mr. VENN: The sheep carrying capacity of improved land in this district is one sheep to two acres on an average. There is no dairying done in the district. I would not call it a dairying district. The summer is too long. The farmers generally in this district are doing well. They work the land by the best methods and there has never been a failure since I have been here. I brought between £6,000 and £7,000 to this place. I value my improved property at £4 per acre; that would be about the average value in this district. Some of it is of much higher value. I fallow about five inches. I try to give the strongest land a stroke of the cultivator in September and then again just before seeding. Only those who have strength of teams can do that. We find Federation wheat gives the best results. We have had very little rust. The average rainfall is about 16 inches. We find anything more than that too much. It would be a great advantage to the farmer if the railways took a greater interest in him and gave him more sympathetic treatment. The reduction of ¾d. per ton in super. and an increase of 10 per cent. in practically everything else is of no assistance to us. I think the freight is excessive on practically everything we get, except super. The Forestry Department used to supply us with ornamental trees; now they make a small charge. The other day I got 3s. worth and the freight was 2s. 9d. from Harvey to Beverley. Generally speaking, the rates are too high, especially for small parcels. Greater attention should be given by those in authority to the bettering of the conditions under which we, and especially our women and children live. At present the conditions are most wretched. Again, concessions should be given to enable us to get the same educational advantages for our sons as obtained in the city. Book-keeping should be made a feature of the curriculum in the country schools. I think certainly that silos or storage bins should first be erected at the ports in order to provide the foundation for the bulk handling system. While the bag system remains, better bags should be provided for the farmers.

(The witness retired.)

FRANK LODGE, Farmer and Grazier, North Beverley, sworn and examined:

9680. To Mr. PAYNTER: I have been engaged in farming in this district for about 20 years. I hold 2,000 acres of freehold, of which 1,700 is cleared. It is all fenced and equipped. The water supply is ample and permanent. I carry 20 horses, about 500 ewes, a few pigs, and dairy cattle for our own use. I cultivate about 400 acres of which 300 is fallow. The average yield for the last six years has been 13 bushels, the highest average being 20 bushels in, I think, 1908. I sow 90 pounds of super and 1¼ bushels of seed. We fallow as deeply as we can, nothing less than six inches. We have plenty of depth of soil. I think a man requires not less than 1,000 acres of first class land in this district to make a living. The present land laws are satisfactory as far as I know. I do not know much about bulk handling or how it is to be introduced in such a way as to save the farmer. The expense will be so very great in putting plants at every small siding that the cost will be very heavy. The provision of bulk storage at the sea port and the use of bags which will be returned is the only way out without excessive cost. Railway freights are high but we cannot expect much better over the immense mileage.

9681. To Mr. VENN: The sheep-carrying capacity of improved land in this district is about one sheep to three acres without artificial feeding. We dairy only for home consumption. I should not call this a dairying district. Cows milk very well during the winter and till about Christmas, but after that it means artificial feeding, which would make dairying very expensive. A good deal of winter cultivation of crops is done, but I think summer cultivation is pretty hopeless in this district without irrigation, for which we have no facilities. Our drawbacks in the way of growing wheat are—(1) Heavy costs of machinery. I think the standardisation of machinery might relieve the situation; still the personal element would come in very strongly. I understand the cost of an American reaper and binder in England is very little more than half the cost in Western Australia. Our particularly heavy cost is in the duplicate parts of machinery. (2) We purchase corn sacks at 10d. per dozen and sell them at 2d. or less. I think bulk storage at the port and the returning of the bags to the farmer would assist the situation. The bags we are using to-day would not stand re-filling. Our bags have deteriorated in quality and have been deteriorating for years past. (3) The low general average of the yield, which this year is about 10 bushels. It costs from 30s. to £2 an acre to crop. A tremendous lot of our land gets very boggy for two months in the year, which results in diseases. (4) We are troubled a good deal with Cape weed on the fallow. This requires extra cultivation involving increased cost. I think stock only accentuates the trouble. The only suggestion I can make is to sow wheat on only well drained land. Oats seems to suit the wetter parts better than wheat. I find Lotz and Federation both good wheats and Alpha is successful for late sowing. I have tried Marshall's No. 3 and Yandilla King. Both are good, but I am afraid that boggy land cannot successfully grow anything. This district is especially suited to sheep. Of late years losses have been heavy due to some disease among them, principally among the best sheep. The Stock Department is puzzled. The sheep die very suddenly. About 1,000 were lost in the neighbourhood of Beverley last year. We cater largely for the lamb trade. The price has always been satisfactory