2nd Progress Report - Part 1

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This transcription is complete
                                                                   SUMMARY OF THE SOUTH-WEST INVESTIGATIONS.
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 The area of good land is much less than expected. The total will probably not exceed 6,500,000 acres of agricultural land. The balance consists of 3,000,000 acres of hardwood forests and 8,000,000 acres of poor country, some of which has a grazing value. 
  
 Existing settlement is sound and satisfactory. Further settlement is limited to the 500,000 acres of Crown lands of an agricultural standard, which are all that the State has to sell. A fairly large proportion of this is too remote from railways for successful occupation at present. The country already settled is capable of carrying a much larger population.

Production of fruits, potatoes, onions, and vegetables is large and increasing. The quality of the output is good, and should warrant the expectation of a large export trade in apples, and of a probable export in tinned peaches and pears, and of oranges and grapes.

The fruit-growing industry is undergoing a necessary process of reconstruction. The unsatisfactory orchard, on poor soil, is passing out and unsuitable varieties of trees are being grubbed out. Growers are learning that only the orchard capable of a high yield per acre can stand the test of competition. 
 Potato growing is rapidly increasing and will soon overtake the local demand. With increased competition and lower prices growers will be compelled to concentrate on the best land, and land capable of only a light yield will be put to other uses. 
 The dairying industry, for which the country is suited, is the hope of the country and its economic future. It is fortunately being assisted just now in its growth by the highest prices for cream and milk in Australian experience.
 The timber export before the war was over £1,000,000 annually. Timber production and agriculture work hand in hand. The high wages and the prices earned for produce sold to the mills build up the struggling farms in their most necessitous stages. 
 The shortage of labour is disturbing. All the principal industries are more or less at a standstill in the deplorable absence of reliable assistance. 
 The South-West is the home of close settlement on small area, in a temperate climate, where the industry of the settler can provide a high standard of comfort and diet for the family, and the social and transport facilities are already provided.

The country is often held in areas which are too large for the present holders. By repurchase and subdivision a large population can be settled on the land in smaller areas to advantage.

The past policy of the State has never contemplated a broad and vigorous policy for the development of the South-West. The development of the country can best be assisted by:—

(1.) The establishment of a non-political Board of Agriculture to supervise, organise, and encourage the primary and secondary industries; to take up the necessary research work incidental to the needs of the country and to maintain a regular and continuous policy in such directions as drainage, irrigation, and the State Farms.

(2.) The provision of fast transport service for perishable products throughout the South-West railways. The products of the country are nearly all perishable, and fast transport, which has hitherto been unobtainable, is the very heart and core of the producing system. Without it there can be neither free growth nor confidence.

(3.) The provision of central produce markets in Perth, accompanied by a delivery system which will deliver all perishables to the trade before 7.0 a.m.

(4.) The provision of ample cool storage.

The Forestry question, which touches agriculture at all points, require definite settlement by marking out, once and for all, the timber areas, to release the land fit for settlement. No comprehensive policy for dealing with the country between Manjimup and Denmark is possible until this is carried out.

The State has been very negligent in failing to open out the numerous coastal and sub-coastal deposits of lime which are found throughout the country, and every attempt should be made to make these available.

In the fruit growing industry we found that where all labour is paid for, the absentee proprietors have usually found the business more or less unprofitable. Where the labour is done by the farmer's own family, and there is no cash disbursement, the position is different, and quite a number of this class are doing well. Some of them are making exceptionally good livings off very limited areas.

Dealing with the repurchased estates question, we have drawn attention to the handsome profits made on the repurchased Stirling Estate. The Harvey Estate and Denmark Estate on the other hand, have been unremunerative investments to date.

The State Farms exhibit a want of control and of effective management and co-ordination.

The Department of Agriculture has rendered valuable service to the fruit-growing industry in holding in check the diseases and pests which have developed from time to time, with the assistance of the Government Entomologist, whose work in this connection has been very valuable. The valuable services of the Chief Irrigation Expert have not been availed of by any means to the fullest extent. There is a general lack of co-ordination in the Department's activities and the necessity of continuous business management and control is very apparent.

Not many complaints of the administration of the Lands Department have been received. The lay-out of selections in the past has been bad, but this is now being remedied. We again encountered poison trouble and are convinced that the Department's efforts to assist the situation are ineffective. The treatment