11026. What men make best settlers in this class of country?—I cannot define them. It is in the man himself.

11027. To the CHAIRMAN: The next thing that I wish to bring before your notice is that there has been far too great a tendency in the South-West to ringbark and run stock instead of devoting attention to cultivation. I compiled a statement showing the folly of that course. It is here. (Produced.) Quite recently sheep in South-West have been taking to the zamia palm. A sheep which had died from poisoning at Coolup and was found to have boya nuts in its inside. Ringbarking country to carry stock in the South-West except in the granite hills is not a payable proposition.

11028. By Mr. PAYNTER: Can you tell us anything about the Margaret River settlement?—It is quite extensive and the settlers there are holding their own wonderfully considering their isolation. Their great difficulty is absence of transport.

11029. To the CHAIRMAN: The Act allows the fencing to stand over provided other improvements are done in lieu of it. We do not enforce fencing for Agricultural Bank purposes. I should like to point out that very useful results have been obtained in this district in experimenting with fertilisers as against getting the soil analysed. Mr Chas Barber of Elgin, via Capel, has done some very good work in this direction. For five years he tried growing crops with one class of fertiliser and got no results, and took to nitro super, which has since made him prosperous. I have known a number of other instances, It seems far better for a man to test the quality of the soil for himself. Another matter is that there is a tendency here in the South-West to put the swamps down with water couch, instead of keeping them for potato or crops such as maize. A lot of the swamps will go out of cultivation and will be carrying dairy cows.

11030. By Mr. PAYTNER: Do you consider that lime is wanted in the district?—When I came down here I noticed the effect of the poisons from the bush and I wrote to the Lands Department, asking if I might be informed of the reason of it as it altered the classification of the land considerably. They wrote back that land required lime, but I was not satisfied with this and I went to Professor Paterson who told me that although lime helped in the decay of the poisons the real cure was cultivation and aeration of the soil by thoroughly ploughing and breaking it up. Lime he said would help.

11031. What do you consider the principal defect in the lands of the South-West?—The toxic defects of the decomposing bush which I have described. Of course, the area is large and the soils are very variable. In some places drainage is required badly, even canals on the plains. Then there is mortality among stock in some localities. This has never been investigated and is accountable for such losses that their avoidance would pay for scientific research over and over again. Deaths clouded in mystery occur and cultivated land as well as in ringbarked paddocks. No serious attempt has been made to use stack-ensilage for dairying as a means of overcoming this and other problems. Stack-ensilage can be put up for about 5s. per ton. Dairying has not been properly organised yet. The improvements of coastal holdings is a special problem, and compliance with the Act on them is impossible in almost every instance. All the land has been alienated, in my district, under the homestead farm and conditional purchase clauses. It is found that, if it is cleared and ploughed, such interference only exposes shifting sand to the strong sea winds, and that ringbarking merely produces an impenetrable tangle of scrub. In some cases there are swamps in which water couch paspalum distichum could be planted, or which, if there were railway facilities, might, perhaps, be utilised profitability for cultivation. But it is my conviction that the right tenure for the coast country is the aforesaid leasehold, which I have advocated in more than one report to the Lands Department, only at a considerable higher valuation, and, of course, safeguarding and good land.

(The witness retired.)

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CAPTAIN THOMAS SCOTT, Harbour Master, Bunbury, sworn and examined.

11032 to 11037. By the CHAIRMAN: What is the position of the harbour facilities, having regard trade that the port is called upon to handle?—It is ample at the present time but before the war we were the busiest port in Western Australia.

11038. Were the harbour facilities then equal to the demand made upon them?—At that time, yes.

11039. When the war is over and settlement and production increases, and trade expands, what improvements will be required? — Lots of them. We will want more wharfage and deeper water.

11040. Would this involve the expenditure of a great deal of money?—Yes, but of course it is an engineering position.

11041. By Mr. PAYTNER: Is the harbour capable of expansion in your opinion?—Yes; it is capable of immense expansion provided money is spent.

11042. To the CHAIRMAN: You have a bay a mile wide and the whole lot can be enclosed. It is only a matter of a breakwater. It is a very simple process to make a satisfactory harbour here. It requires only the extension of the existing breakwater. Unfortunately, the practise is for engineers to do certain work and then ask the seamen's advice about it. I consider that Bunbury could be made a good port for less money than has been expended at Fremantle.

11043. To Mr. PAYTNER: We can take a vessel drawing 24ft. 6in. at the present time. I consider that we could get from 45 to 50ft. of water by dredging in the middle of the Bay. On the jetty side there is a rock bottom, but in the middle of the Bay it is only mud and sand.

11044. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you want more facilities ashore?— Before the war the jetty was worked up to its limit. I suppose that Bunbury was the busiest port of the State with the timber trade.

11045. Have you shipped any wheat from here?—Yes; we have shipped a good deal; there have been some large shipments.

( The witness retired).

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WALTER BUCKLEY CASTIEAU, Farmer, Roelands, sworn and examined.

11046. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been 11 years in this district. I have 4,000 acres in my own