capacity of my place. I should also have advised you that I have 2,000 acres of pastoral lease where I run my sheep occasionally. I grow hay and produce potatoes. The hay is only grown for my own use. The returns from my cropping equal 1½ tons of oaten hay to the acre. I sow about two bushels of seed and about 1 cwt. of manure. I started here as a blacksmith and gradually improved my land by putting any surplus money that I had into it.

10880. What class of sheep do you go in for?—They are a mixed lot, but I intend to go in for Boarder Leicesters. I like them better than the Merino. I think where you can carry only a few sheep it is advisable to go in for the large breeds.

Some years ago I found that although the cross-bred wool was cheaper, these sheep cut a heavier fleece and the returns are more profitable than those obtained from the Merino. My sheep cut about 6lbs.

10881. Are you troubled with dogs in your district?—Wild dogs are not troublesome, but the tame ones are at times.

10882. To Mr. VENN: I grow potatoes on the swamp land. I have been successful with their cultivation here. I have been at it now for 10 years but for the last two years have not done particularly well. The manure is not as good as we used to get. The potatoes also are affected more with the fly and I think they are less vigorous, due to the poor nature of the fertiliser used. The best yield per acre I have had was 10 tons. I used to use Shirley's No. 5 manure and I found that Mt. Lyell, No2, until the last two years was as good as Shirley's.

10883. Do you find the land on which you have been cultivating potatoes gives out?—No, I have found that the swamp land maintains its fertility very well. One of my swamps has been growing potatoes for 20 years. There are a number of swamps in the district similar to mine where people could grow any quantity of potatoes. Lack of drainage however, is the trouble. I find that on the flat ground alongside the swamps I can grow as good crops as in the swamp itself. I keep the ground well ploughed and well worked up until the end of January or the middle of February. I favour the Delaware variety of seed although Manistie has proved a good cropper. I have been growing this latter only a few years, and unfortunately, I find it is subject to scab. I cut the biggest potatoes from the swamp crop and plant these with the other crop alternatively. This maintains their quality. I have grown Swede turnips in very heavy crops on the swamp land and on the hill ground also. I consider I grew 15 tons to the acre in the swamp. Cabbages also I found a profitable crop. I broadcast the seed on land previously planted with potatoes. I do not thin them out as I find that large ones which come away first, kill the small ones out. There is a man a few miles away from me who grows large quantities of cabbages and does remarkably well with them. Clearing for these crops is heavy but once done it is worth while.

10884. What do you consider is the general potato average for the district?—About five to six tons.

10885. Have you gone in for dairying at all?—Yes, but only for my own use. I consider this will be a good dairying district. Farmers generally are increasing their dairy herds. Pigs, however, are not produced in any great quantity.

10886. Have you tried the cultivation of artificial grasses?—None except paspalum, which does very well around the swamps. This year I am going in for rape. I tried it and it has done remarkably well. I intend to plant in January and then shall have it well forward for the stock in April, when the grass is poor. That is the time to sell fat sheep. They are scarce at that time. I am putting in 18 acres of it.

10887. What do you consider the cost of clearing this swamp land? —To get it ready for the plough costs from £8 to £10 per acre.

10888. And the other country? —Ringbarked country costs from £5 to £6 per acre to clear. That is red gum and jarrah country. I find it best to pull the timber off the swamps rather than burn it on the land, as owing to the nature of the swamp land burning on the spot seems to improverish the soil,

10889. By Mr. PAYNTER: Have the departmental experts been of any assistance to you? —No, they have never given me any assistance. The growers have had to learn by experience.

10890. By Mr. VENN : It has been proposed that the Government should establish stud farms for the production of seed potatoes? —I think it would not be a success. I think, where it is necessary to have a change of seed, that growers can arrange this by sending for their supplies to reliable growers.

10891. Have you had any disease in your potato crops? —No, but I consider that the department should endeavour to eradicate the potato fly. This is the worst thing that the growers have to contend with.

10892. Reverting again to your cultivation methods, do you cut the seed which you plant on the swamp? — Yes, I do not study the size of the potatoes, though I put round seed in the dry parts of the swamp land.

(The witness retired.)

JOHN RUSSELL WALTERS, "The Peninsular,"

Bridgetown, sworn and examined:

10893. To Mr. PAYNTER: I have been in this district since 1889. I have 2,300 acres of which 1,600 acres are freehold and the balance C.P. I am 5½ miles from the railway station. My land is all fenced and about 100 acres are fit for the plough. I have 20 acres of orchard. The farm is equipped with all necessary buildings and home and I carry about 450 sheep. I also fatten some of the progeny. I have in addition from 15 to 20 head of cattle, the same number of horses and a few pigs. I put in about three acres of swamp potatoes.

10894. Do you find the orchard pays ? —I find the stock, the orchard, and the potatoes profitable. I bought this property for £1,200 and had very little capital besides. I am satisfied with my farming proposition; so far it has been good.

10895. What do you estimate is the cost of producing a case of apples?—I estimate the cost of producing and placing on rails at from 3s. 9d. to 4s. for dump cases.

10896. What is the cost of bringing an orchard up to the bearing stage ?—To bring an acre of orchard up to maturity, that is up to seven or eight years old, would be about £75.