2nd Progress Report - Part 1

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This transcription is complete

scheme has been a failure. The scheme has not been built to cope with a winter such as that we have just had. The scheme should have been built for all time, and to take all waters. I am in the drainage area, but it has been many pounds out of my pocket through the water overflowing the banks. The flood gates should be made wider. There have been inspections made by the department recently, but they have never been known to condemn their own work. The suggestion to widen the gates has come from the drainage board. The water couch blocks the side drains, and yanget and bullrushes are blocking the main drains. The faulty drainage has been a set back to the progress of the district.

10547. To Mr. PAYNTER: The cost of clearing land in this district is heavy. There is very little land changing hands. I do not think there is any available about here. There might be some Government land, but the good land has all gone. There is no land suitable for repatriation purposes.

10548. By My. VENN: Are there are difficulties under which you are labouring in this district?—The price of offal is very high considering the quantity of wheat that is being held in the State at the present time. There should be a greater export of flour instead of wheat. The price for wheat refuse which is 3s. 6d. is too high.

10549. By Mr. PAYNTER: What about the man who is holding it?—It is better to pay 5s. 6d. for good wheat. I should be sorry to give 3s 6d. a bushel for some of the wheat I have seen here.

10550. By Mr. CLARKSON: Do you find any difficulty in regard to labour?—We have our own labour for milking.

10551. Is the district well suited in regard to to conveniences?—Yes.

10552. Can you suggest anything that might be done to further the interests of this district?—With regard to cattle it has been suggested by the agricultural society in Bunbury, and also by the directors of the Bunbury butter factory, that the Government should secure bulls and locate them in certain parts of the South-West. That was done some 10 or 12 years ago, and it was appreciated by the farmers. One beast was here, and it left very good stock. I do not know why the practice was discontinued.

10553. Have the experts of the department taken any live interest in your operations?—They have not.

10554. By Mr. PAYNTER: Is testing of dairy herds carried on this district?—It has been done by the department once only. I am sorry to say that the officer came with a faulty plant. I certainly think this should be done regularly by the department. With regard to the State farm and the dairy stock there, a man has to pay an exhorbitant price if he wants a bull. There are many who cannot afford to pay big prices, and I think bulls should be sold on time payment so that the poorer man might have a chance. This also applies to all dairy stock. I was at the sale at the State farm the other day, and there were many other poor men there who were prepared to purchase, but they had no chance whatever against men with means.

(The witness retired.)


DAVID HENRY HIGGINS, Farmer. Springfield, sworn and examined:

10555. To Mr. CLARKSON: I have been here all my life. To be exact, I have been 51 years on the land I now occupy. I am one of the firm of Higgins Bros., and we hold 4,000 acres. We go in for mixed farming. We carry cattle and horses on the land, but no sheep. We run about 200 cattle and 40 horses. We grow 10 acres of potatoes. The most profitable use to which you could put the land around Capel just now is dairying. We do not do any, and we do not want to.

10556. Why?—It is too much like hard work.

10557. Do you think the labour trouble will be the principal bar?—Yes. I might tell you I never milked a cow in my life, and I do not intend to. Quite a lot of people are dairying and making a success of it. Most of them do it nearly all with their own families. There is a hired man here and there. We can milk cattle six months in the year without artificial feed. Artificial grasses should be grown here successfully almost everywhere.

10558. To Mr. VENN: The highest yield I have had from potatoes is 12 tons to the acre, and it was a particularly good quality of potatoes. There is limestone right throughout this area. The average yield for the district for five years would not be more than four tons. The fly is the worst thing we have had to deal with in the way of diseases. The Department of Agriculture has never done anything in the way of attempting to eradicate it. We also grow onions. The highest yield we have had per acre has been 17 tons. There are many grown in the district, but I think more should be grown, especially on the Stirling Estate, which is well adapted for that crop. I think the repurchase of that estate was a good move. A lot are dissatisfied and want to sell out, but they ask big prices. They want almost a quarter of a million. That shows you what they think of the land. The value of improved land is on the Stirling Estate outside the poor land would be from £10 to £20 an acre. I am not prepared to say whether the farmers here are making the best use of their land. There are many things that could be grown profitably which are not grown. The drainage scheme has not been a success. There is not sufficient outlet for the water. The Board agitated to have the matter put right, but nothing has been heard as to what the Government intends to do. An expert came down just after the breakaway. There are clay banks across the swamps, and these banks break away and let the water over the flats. There are flood gates to keep the walk water back, but there are not enough. There are 13 gates, and we asked for 10 more. The faulty drainage has been a set back to the progress of the district, especially this year. The smallest area that is being farmed here is 10 acres, but the man on it has to go out and work. There are one or two making a good living off 40 acres of the Stirling Estate land with 100 acres of plain land beside it. The 100 acres will be for stock in winter. The market value of that land would be £20 an acre. I have always had a good market for my onions. The best gross returns we got from the 14 chains of onions was £200. The cost of producing onions would be high, about £40 an acre, and the cost of producing potatoes would be £20 an acre delivered on trucks. We use super, and ammonia and bone dust, and we