machines. There is a long chute which runs down and the bags are slipped off wherever it is suitable to do so. There is no doubt about the machine. There are over 2,000 of them working in the State of Oregon. I wrote to five or six men who were working these , machines and in each case they replied that they were perfectly satisfied with the work done by them.

10079. By Mr VENN: What would be the cost of such a machine ? — It is very much cheaper than it would appear to be from the capital cost. In California they can start earlier in the morning and work longer days than we can. It is a bulky machine, but that does not matter if it fills the bill. The big machines can take off 20 acres in a day , whereas the average with a farmers machine is from four to six acres. I am trying to find out the probable cost landed here. Under ordinary conditions we would get them here at what I would call a reasonable rate. If we take three 8ft. Sunshine harvesters , and the necessary horses to draw them , they represent a pretty valuable plant , and one of the machines I speak of , costing say £1,500, and doing double the work as well as sewing up the bags, would compare very favorably with the other form of harvesting implements. We lose at least 25 percent of our days work in filling the bags from the hopper and in stoppages. If a man is taking off eight acres a day and is working eight hours he is doing one acre to the hour and with a five bag crop he would have to stop about twice in the hour. With regard to the self-sown crop I have mentioned , I have traveled about the country a good deal, and if i could have seen a paddock which was clean after harvesting , I would have stopped to inquire what machines had been used. I think we are on the wrong track with regard to our harvesting. It cannot be that every man who runs these harvesters is a fool. Here and there would be a paddock which was clean if it was in the machine to keep it clean. The fault must lie with our machines.

10080. By Mr CLARKSON : I have made inquiries as to whether anything has been done in the shape of evolving a machine which would cut the heads from the wheat?— That is of no use. The Firbank and slight straw wheats will always go down from day to day. Once they get on the turn they continue to go down. It seems to me that these people in California have solved the problem for us. They have got big open plains to deal with, where the storms flatten everything down. Here we are more protected by natural growht of timber , but we still have the elements to contend with. Sometimes we leave our crops standing longer than we should and they cannot stand for all time. There is a lot to be done if the Commission will take it in hand. When I found that Mr Connolly was going Home through the United States , I impressed upon him the necessity for spending some few weeks in watching these machines at work. I should even like the State to be put to the expense of sending one of our practical farmers with him to see what is being done. The difference between profit and loss is represented by the grain which is left on the ground every year. Even in March I have seen wheat washed out of the paddocks on to the road and sprouting ther in ridges like a green caterpillar.

10081. Again, I should like to ask , do you consider that cereal growing can be carried on profitably by itself under present conditions? — I should like to know what is meant by present conditions. We have to cart our wheat 20 miles.

10082. Then leave out the carting , which is a variable item ?—If a man has got pretty good land and an average season , and does a lot of his own work , he should be able to make it pay.

10083. By Mr PAYNTER : Without any stock but his teams ? — He should have some sheep as well.

10084. By Mr CLARKSON : Does wheat growing alone pay ? — If it cannot be possible for a man who does all his own work to make it pay , I do not see how a man could make it pay when he has to hire labour.

10085. What does it cost to put in and take off your crop ? — In 1914 we put in 1,455 acres of wheat , 40 acres of oats , 258 acres of barley , and two acres of peas. Of that amount 526 acres or new ground was only cultivated. We used 1,404 bushels of seed and charged it at 3s. The barley was 180 bushels charged at 5 s 6d and the oats 60 bushels charged at 3s. We also put in some burr clover. The average cost of putting that crop in was 18s an acre,inclusive of the 526 acres which were scarified.

10086. By Mr Mr VENN : Does that include harvesting ? — No . The manure cost £ 288 . The seed cost per acre for wheat 2s. 10.24d., and the manure per acre 2s. 7 d. We used 45 to 50 lbs of manure. The cost per acre of rolling and drilling was 1s. 3d. We employed horse power at that time. The cost of ploughing and cultivating was 8s. 9d. We cultivated once only, but there might have been some places where it was done twice. I will endeavor to get the information as to the actual cost of putting in and taking off.

10087. You have had experience with tractors on the farm ? — Yes. They are satisfactory , but it is necessary to watch the costs. At all events I can say that , compared with horse power, the results are in favour of the tractor. My experience is that ploughing with the tractor costs, as nearly as I can reckon , 5s. an acre , that is breaking up new ground.

10088. Can you let us have actual figures showing the cost of putting in and taking off a crop by horse power and also by tractor. This would be of great value to us for purposes of comparison?— I will get the information for you , but last year our costs were very heavy; machines were continually breaking down, and men were sitting back. It was heart-breaking the way in which costs went up.

10089 . By Mr PAYNTER : Do you consider that the land laws are sufficiently liberal to encourage land settlement?— I do not. I think that any man who goes out into the backblocks and clears the land and makes it a place where someone can live and produce for evermore, that man is endering his country a very valuable service, and he should not be charged for the land , provided of course he complied with the improvement conditions. The land in itself before it is cleared will not keep even rabbit. The only place in which a rabbit can live is on the land that has been cleared. If you put up any place out our way to be disposed of to-morrow., I doubt whether it would fetch any more than the value of the labour which has been put into it. The rent goes on just the same even though the farmer may experience a miss with his crop. I really think that the people on the land should be treated more generously. If the land cannot be given to them they should have occupation for at least ten years absolutely free of charge.