but I have two cows and about 30 pigs. I cannot run sheep because of the poison which is distributed practically over the whole of my land.

9768. To Mr. PAYNTER: I favour the continuation of the wheat pool. I have not received any assistance from the experts or officials of the agricultural department. I have had no necessity for it. I do not consider the land laws calculated to encourage land settlement. on a block like mine, a man should be exempt from rent for the first five years. The value of the land is estimated too high. The early comers picked out the eyes of the country and the later comers have to take what the Lands department offers them.

9769. To Mr. VENN: I paid 15s. 6d. for poison country until last year. I have since got it reduced to 10s. When I came here I found the conditions altogether different from what had been represented to us. My brother and I were told that we could get land adjoining, but this we found impossible. We knew nothing of the land board and its system.

9670. By Mr. CLARKSON: Have you any suggestions to make for the betterment of the farming industry?—I consider poison areas should be exempt from rental for at least five years. Over and about the poison I have the mallee suckers to contend with for tree years. With three years' cultivation I can pretty well clear my land from poison. The Establishment of a bacon factory in the district would be a great boon to farmers, many of whom are turning attention to pigs. In seasons like the present, dairying could be successfully carried on in this district, but not in a normal season without specially grown fodder and hand feeding.

                                                                                          (The witness retired.) 

ERNEST CLIFTON LEGGOE, Sheep Farmer, West of Woodanilling, sworn and examined:

9771. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have been resident in Woodanilling for 18 months, but I have had my property there three years. We are too far from a railway to farm and moreover the land is not suitable. It would pay the Government to let us have waste lands such as poison and plain on an improvement basis, otherwise the waste land may remain unused for many years to come. Out our way there is an area of waste lands which I am prepared to take up, fence, clear from poison, provide with water supply and guarantee to carry permanently not less than, say, a sheep to 10 acres or whatever else the place might reasonably carry. Provided I carry out those conditions, I think the Government should meet my bona fide attempt to reclaim waste land and allow me to have it for the payment of peppercorn rental value. Three months ago I applied for that area of land and asked for a classifier so that I might be saved taking up land value at, say, 4s. an acre or more. The classifier has not yet arrived and in the meantime there has be an enormous rise in the cost of wire. I hold that much more expedition should be displayed by the Lands Department in dealing with such applications. If we do not get that land fenced by October and our dams down, we shall have lost 12months use of it, because it is essentially summer country.

9772. By Mr. VENN: What about a lease without re-appraisement for your proposition ?—No, all the financial institutions here are prejudiced against the perpetual lease. It would be better to let our waste lands go at a minimum valuation on improvement conditions. Nobody could complain of 1s. an acre. We are prepared to go ahead if we can get the waste lands at that price, but with the department slow to move and the wire market rising against us, we do not know what to do. All these waste lands should be classified so that a man could make his plans and go ahead.

                                                                                          (The witness retired.)

                                                                                                 — — — — —

JOHN ROWLAND LLOYD BRINKLEY, Farmer. Cartmeticup, 16 miles north from Katanning, sworn and examined:

9773. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have been on the land here six years. I had no previous experience. I hold 1,400 acres, of which I regard 500 as first class. I have 800 acres cleared, 250 being in crop. Three-fifths of the crop is in fallow. I do not believe in fallow, except that it enables one to get ahead. In this district there is no advantage in conserving moisture. I get better results from oats than from wheat. The highest average I have had for the whole crop of oats was 30 bushels, my highest in wheat being 12 bushels. The normal average of the district is approximately nine bushels of wheat and 15 of oats. I use a bushel of seed wheat and 70lbs. super. as a rule, with a little more if late. Of oats I use up to a bushel and a half. In England we sowed up to four or five bushels. To hold my own I require ten and two-third bushels at 10s. a bag. It costs me about 32s. 6d. to put in and take off a crop. I run 550 sheep, 15 horses and 12 cattle. That is about the full carrying capacity of my holding in its present development. I cannot say whether bulk handling would reduce the cost to the farmer. The tariff is not favourable to the producer . It means selling in the cheapest market and buying in the dearest. I would not remove all duty from farming implements, but certainly they should be cheaper than they are. The cost of machinery and parts is excessive; probably the man who pays has to pay for half a dozen who do not pay.

9774. To Mr PAYNTER: Under normal conditions the improved value of my property is about £2 10s. per acre. I have not had any assistance from the experts or officials of the Agricultural Department. I do not consider our present land laws calculated to induce people to take up land. Railways and roads do not go far enough ahead of the settler. The provision of water supply is the first consideration, but that, I take it, is for the individual. I do not hold with sending a settler 12½ miles from a railway; 10 miles is sufficient. The nearest point of my holding from a siding is 5½ miles, but I cart 8½ miles to Woodanilling.

9775. To Mr VEEN: No dairying is done in my locality except for private consumption. I do not call this a dairying district. For five months in the year one is right up against it with the cows he keeps for his own private use. Of course, every farmer should have his own cow. I once kept 60 pigs, but through inexperience, I wasted money in trying to fatten them on fruit which I had no market for. I cut out the pigs, but I think that with