9686. To Mr PAYNTER: In regard to the State income tax: taking the profit of one year is not fair to farmers. In England they found it was unjust to farmers and they now take a three years average. I would recommend the same for this State. Again, in regard to railway freights i think the small man is heavily penalised. A single bale of bags to Beverley costs 10s. freight. Truck lots run out at about 4s. 7d. I think bulk handling ought to pay handsomely. The returning of the bags to the farms would prove a boon. Plenty of three bushel bags that come up here do not hold three bushels; also they are a very inferior quality. If the wheat pool is not continued, I think we might as well cease growing wheat. For several years we have been getting 5d. less than London parity. During the last few months if one cancels a railway truck and the department happen to deliver that truck they charge full railage rates to Perth, even although one does not use the truck. They ought not to charge more than the cost of bringing the truck to the siding. farmers lose hundreds of pounds under the "owner's risk" clause. (The Witness Retired.)

WILLIAM EDWIN FISHER, Farmer, County Peak, sworn and examined: 9687. By Mr PAYNTER: I am a delegate appointed by the Bally Bally Farmers and Settlers' Association. I have filled in one of your forms. (Document handed in.) I have been farming all my life in South Australia and here. I have been 14 years in this district. I hold 1,453 acres of C.P. and grazing lease, of which 550 acres is cleared. It is all fenced and subdivided, with permanent water supply. I am paying 10s. an acre for 840 acres and 8s. 6d. per acre for 453 acres. I am satisfied with the prices. My farm is equipped with buildings, but my house is only of timber and iron. I carry nine working horses and three ponies, 250 sheep, six pigs and two cows. I am 20 miles from Beverley, 14 from Kokeby, and 11 from Jacob's Well Siding. I crop 270 acres, of which 200 is fallow. The average yield for the last six years has been 11 bushels, the highest being 18 bushels in 1913. I sow 80 or 90 lbs. of super and 75 lbs. of seed. I consider that to make a decent living in my district a man requires 1,500 acres. There is room for amendments in the existing land laws. The main struggle is at the start. Our rents and rates start immediately on taking possession. For two years there are not returns whatever. The land should be held for the first five years free of rent. We are 2½ miles from school and the nearest doctor is at Beverley, 20 miles away. We have no telephonic communication. I cannot say what the cropping costs. As far as i can see, I am going to the bad at the rate of £100 a year. I have had a great deal of sickness in the family; but for that, I think i could hold my own. I have no fault to find with farming in this State. It is the best life of all. I would rather be farming in Western Australia than in South Australia. We are paying rather too much for everything we use on the farm. I had £80 when i started. I would not let my farm go at less than £3 per acre. There is £800 worth of stock and plant. The farmers in my district are all doing well. We have a 16 inch rainfall. I have no time for the wheat pool. I do not like Government interference in anything. The wool appraisement does not appeal to me. I am in favour of bulk handling. The bag system entails an enormous waste and expense. railway freights are rather high for us. Wheat growing alone is not profitable. One must have sheep as well, and if he can do dairying also, so much the better. So far no provision has been for dairying in this district. I have tried summer fodder such as maize and Japanese millet and got marvellous crops. I top old culls on it. Hoggets were bringing 6s. 9d. and I sold my specially fattened old culls at 12s. 6d. (The Witness Retired.)

JOHN EDWARD JAMES FLEAY, Farmer, West Beverley, sworn and examined: 9688. To Mr PAYNTER: I have been farming all my life in this district. With my sons I own 9,000 or 10,000 acres and I am leasing between 5,000 and 6,000. All of my land is well improved and equipped. I have good permanent water supply. I carry out 30 horses. I will shear about 6,000 sheep this year. I crop only about 5,000 acres, of which 140 is fallow. I believe in fallowing, but last year we could not fallow. Our average yield over a period of years would be 14 or 15 bushels; our highest was 30 bushels in 1913. I have not worked out the cost of cropping. Chiefly I rely on the sheep. Oats do very well in my district. It is perhaps too wet for wheat. I am practically surrounded by poison. There are a few settlers in the poison area. The rents of poison land is almost useless. It takes three or four years of vigilance to get ride of the poison. The bad poison country ought to be available to the settler for nothing, under improvement conditions. The great thing is to get people to use such land. Dale Bridge is my nearest siding and Beverley the nearest town. The rainfall in my district is 17 inches. (The Witness Retired.) The Commission adjourned.