adapted to many things. It will grow fruit, potatoes, clover, and I intend going in for dairying. I was only here a year before I got a cow. You cannot live in this country without a cow. Cows will make this district. I was on the goldfields and in other parts of the State, and I consider that there is more gold here than on the goldfields.

10959. By Mr. PAYNTER: What are you paying for your land?—At first I was paying £1 18s. per acre for it. There was some land two or three miles from here ringbarked and it was priced at £2 10s. per acre. I consider that a fair value for this land is only the labour that is put into it. The homestead land is the correct idea. I used to pay £18 per year and I could have cleared an acre of land per annum for that amount, which would have been of more value to the State. The improvements that they did in ringbarking and grubbing on my place were useless. They cut the trees down and 20 more grew up in their place. I wrote to the department two years ago. They wiped out the value of the so-called improvements. I paid this for four years and they wiped out the value of the so-called improvements. I paid this for four years and they wiped out the balance of the improvement money. They also reduced my land to 15s. per acre, and they made a refund of what I had paid over and above this. I am quite satisfied now with what they have done for me. I consider that some of this country will take a good man to clear it at £30 per acre. Some of the country will only take £10 or £15. However, the £30 land is cheaper than the inferior stuff as the returns are higher. A man will not get any returns from green timber clearing for four or five years. I consider a man should ringbark a small acreage at a time and clear this. Fern has to be killed before you can do anything. It takes three or four years and seven or eight ploughings. I have sown clovers and grasses and found that four acres will carry seven head of stock for about seven months of the year. I find the white and alsike clovers will do best. The seed supplied by the Perth merchants, however, is not satisfactory. For instance, I planted four or 5lbs. of cow grass and the seed was no good at all.

10960. Does this country want liming?—Yes, we should be able to get lime for our land. Lime will, I think, help to kill the fern also. Cheap lime is an absolute necessity. Referring again to the Agricultural Bank they were certainly good to me, but I consider that the terms should be over 50 or 60 years instead of as they are now. Payment now is a fair drain upon a man who is developing. (Mr. Venn explained that to extend the terms over 50 or 60 years the bank would require a very huge capital, far greater than it has now.) One thing I should like to impress upon you, and that is the value of the man with local knowledge. He is of great benefit to the district. I have also found that by co-operating with my neighbours I have been able to accomplish far more than I could have by myself. (The witness retired.)

JOHN WISE, Farmer, Manjimup, sworn and examined:

10961. To Mr. PAYNTER: I have been established nine years in the district. I have 320 acres, namely, two homestead farms. I am 1½ miles from the line. The blocks are all fenced, 12 acres are fit for the plough. I have 14 acres of orchard. I have a house and the necessary buildings. I started with no capital and derived my income from wages earned by my boys while I improved the farm. When they extended the line from here to Manjimup they put it right through my land, and I cannot now keep any stock. The railway is not fenced, and the engineer advised me that if I sent them £48 they would put in cattle pits. As it is now, there is only 20 acres of my land that is any good. The railway was not surveyed when I took up my land. The Lands Department advised me two years ago that the matter of having this attended to was under consideration, but I have heard nothing since. It seems to me that it is unjustifiable.

10962. By Mr. VENN: What condition is your orchard in?—It is just starting to bear.

10963. Had you previous experience?—I was a nurseryman in England.

10964. Are you satisfied with your prospects here?—Yes, I am satisfied with my prospects if they will only put in the cattle pits on the railway, and enable me to keep stock. I cannot afford to put in the pits myself. I intend to go in for dairying, but I cannot now even keep a cow for my own use. (The witness retired.)

JOHN FREDERICK KAMMANN, Farmer, Manjimup, sworn and examined:

10965. To Mr. PAYNTER: I have been 11 years in this district. I had no previous farming experience. I hold 230 acres, namely, one homestead, and 70 acres C.P. It is ten miles from the railway, and is all fenced except 70 acres. Sixty acres has been cleared and under the plough, and 40 acres is under orchard. I have three horses and two pigs. I have a five-roomed house and a good barn. I came from London and previously I was in business in England. I came here with £500. I rely upon my orchard principally for my living. This is just beginning to bear. The prices realised by fruit, however, are too low. When I came out here the Government was sending broadcast such a lot of misleading information as to the cost of establishing an orchard that I went in for the thing in big licks. They advised that orchard land should be cleared nine inches below the ground. The consequence is that, having follow this, my orchard is suffering from ammillaria mellea. Lime would, I think, help to combat this disease, but it is too expensive.

10966. What returns have you obtained from your orchard?—Last year my fruit did not realise 3s. a case. I grew 2,000 cases. Of course I realise that this was due to the fact that there was no export. In regard to the cost of clearing, my £500 has been supplemented by three loans from the Agricultural Bank, totalling £700. I have therefore put £1,200 into the property. The Bank used to advance settlers 50 per cent. of the value of improvements. As soon as my capital was exhausted I applied for £15 per acre to finish clearing up five acres, and the granted me this. Now they say that they will advance the total amount of the clearing, but their idea of the cost of clearing has been reduced to £12 per acre. This amount is not suffi-