use Sewt. to the acre. That is cheaper than ordinary potato manure.

10559. To Mr. PAYNTER: The cost of clearing varies from £6 to £15 an acre, and the land is best in the first year after clearing. After that it deteriorates unless you manure heavily. Where you burn timber your onion crop is not any good for many years.

10560. To Mr. VENN: The principal natural grass on the place is mellilotus, and burr clover is the next best, but you should not lose sigh of couch. This is a good fattening district.

10561. To Mr. CLARKSON: There is no Government land about here suitable for repatriation purposes. There are large areas that would be suitable for reacquisition.

10562. Have you found that the Agricultural Department through their experts are endeavouring to push along matters here?—They have not done much; still I am sorry to see that Mr. Connor is going out. He gave the farmers hints which did a lot of good. He showed enthusiasm in his work, especially in connection with dairy stock.

10563. Is there any matter you would like to bring under notice?—We grow oats and barley.

10564. By Mr. VENN: What is the highest yield per acre that you have had of Cape barley?—We have had 105 bushels to the acre. That was not manured. I have never heard of such a thing before or since. That was in the drought season three years ago. There was only a small patch of four acres. A few years back we got 1,100 bushels from 16 acres. Barley is not generally grown here. We tried malting barley, but it was not successful. We got it from the Swan Brewery, and paid 10s. a bushel for it. We got 3s. 9d. for it delivered in Perth.

10565. By Mr. CLARKSON: It has been suggested that stud cattle should be made easily available for the settlers. Do you think that would be advisable?—It certainly would for the dairymen and the district generally.

10566. It has also been suggested that bulls might be sold on extended terms, so that the poor men might be able to purchase?—That would be a good idea.

10567. You grow Algerian oats, I understand. What yield have you had?—Sixty bushels is the most I have had, and that was off common land. We do not use manure at all there.

10568. Are many oats grown?—The oats are nearly all grown for hay. The hay yield is 1 1/4 tons for the district. It is a very low average this year. Our rainfall figures for the past 10 years might interest you. They are as follows:—1908, 30.03; 1909, 33.11; 1910, 37.73; 1911, 24.07; 1912, 31.71; 1913, 32.83; 1914, 22.59; 1915. 34.80; 1916, 30.34; total 277.21, or an average of 30,80, This year we have had to date 46.86 inches.

(The witness retired.)

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WILLIAM JOHN WITTFOHT, Farmer and Orchardist, sworn and examined:

10569. To Mr. CLARKSON: The total area I hold is 226 acres, and I have 16 acres on the Stirling Estate. I have 20 acres of orchard; the rest is grass country and useless back country. I make a living out of my fruit trees. I have apples, oranges, mandarins, peaches, plums, and apricots. I have been most successful with the apples, from the point of view of profit, and with the oranges next. The return I got per tree from the apples has been very erratic. Last year the return from the whole orchard was 4,090 cases for the 20 acres, and it ranged from 894 cases off three-quarters of an acre down to nothing. In one instance I got 874 cases of marketable apples from three-quarters of an acre and in other instances I got nothing. The reason was that at that time we were unable to obtain cases, and there were marketing difficulties. There was an enormous amount of waste. What I got from three-quarters of an acre I actually did market. The total production was between three and four cases per tree.

10570. To Mr. VENN: Apples grown here are of the highest quality. I have no trouble in getting satisfactory prices. Last year I got 5s. 8d. per case. I have not the figures for 1916. In 1915 I got 6s 3 3/4d., in 1914 I got 6s. 7-1/5d., and in 1913 7s. 1-2/5d. Without lalowing for my labour the cost of all the fruit is 2s. 0 1/2d. per case on rails at Capel. That includes everything except my labour. Allowing for my labour I make it 2s. 9 1/2d.

10571. By Mr. CLARKSON: Then the prices you have received for fruit have proved satisfactory?—Yes.

10572. By Mr. PAYNTER: Are your trees troubled with diseases?—Yes, but they have been coped with successfully so far.

10573. By Mr. CLARKSON: Can you give us separate returns for the separate fruits?—Last year the total average net return for all fruit was 4s. 10.;the average for the stone fruit was 2s. 4d., for oranges 6s., and apples 5s. 8d.

10574. By Mr. VENN: Would you call this a good orange district?—Mr. Moody said that my oranges were the best he had seen in Australia, but I only have small patches of oranges. they are in from one to three acres just where I think the suitable river flats are. The trees are from five to 15 years old.

10575. Do you find the 15 year old trees showing signs of distress?—I have a lot of armilaria fungus which attacks the roots of trees. You can check it if you see it in time, but if you do not you must grub out the tree. It is necessary to irrigate oranges when they are over five years old. Oranges are irrigated but not apples. I irrigate them twice a year. I use about equal to three inches of rain at a time. I put that on by flooding.

10576. By Mr. CLARKSON: Do you find any particular variety of oranges do better than others?—For the markets we have, people should grow nothing else but Valencia and Washington Navels. Mandarins, I think, should be left alone so far as the South-West is concerned. With regard to apples the export varieties are Jonathans, Cleopatras, and Dunn's. I have not tried cherries. A few people have tried them, but they have not proved profitable.

10577. By Mr. PAYNTER: On what size orchard could a man make a living?—It would depend on the ground. If it were suitable orehard country, 10 acres would be ample.

10578. By Mr. CLARKSON: What do you do with the inferior quality of apples?—We try and make the best of the local market.

10579. By Mr. PAYNTER: Do you do any evaporating at all?—No. Before 1914 we used to