(At Brunswick.) ——— Present:

J. O. Giles, Esq., Chairman. B. L. Clarkson, Esq. | H. H. Paynter, Esq.

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EMILY BLANCHE SMITH, Representing Messrs. John and T. J. Smith, Orchardists, Brunswick, sworn and examined:

(The witness explained that her father was indisposed and had asked her to interview the Commission.)

11126. To the CHAIRMAN: What we want to ask is why the State orchard is being taken up. It was presumed that the State planted the orchard as an object lesson to us, and it is considered unreasonable that it should be taken out. We want to know whether in following the lead which has been given us there it would be advisable for us to pull our orchards out also. We have from 7 to 8 acres under fruit. It is planted with all varieties of trees. We have been experimenting for years in order to see which varieties do best. We have found that apples and pears do very well with us. Our orchard is two miles from the State farm. We also have 170 acres of land, some close to Brunswick and at Mornington. We have fruit there too, but I cannot give you the acreage. We also go in for mixed farming, although we find that the orchard pays best. We had to go out of dairying as there was only myself and my younger brother to run the place. We have gone in for potato growing. We put in 7 to 8 acres of swamp potatoes and 5 to 6 acres on the plain country. We are able to make a living off the place.

11127. BY Mr PAYNTER: In what respect has the State orchard been an object lesson to your people?—In the matter of experimenting with different varieties of trees. The department stated that they were going to show orchardists in the South-West what to do in their orchard practice, and the farm has been of benefit to is in this connection. We consider that as we are paying portion of the tax for the upkeep of the State farm we should be able to get the benefit of the experiments carried out.

11128. How old is your own orchard?—fourteen years. If the orchard is a failure then it would have saved the farmers the work of experimenting, and being a failure it would show farmers what not to do. The State can afford to do this kind of work where farmers cannot.

11129. Do you get any help from the Department of Agriculture?—With the exception of Mr Breen, the local inspector, no one has done anything for us. We are in the fruit quarantine area, yet there are neighbours with orchards which some time ago were rotten with fruit fly. These people with the fruit fly can take their fruit all over the place, but because we are in the quarantine district we cannot sell any of our fruit. Mr Wicken has been on our orchard also and can bear this out. I have letter from Mr Moody saying that he would raise the restriction on the place, but the district inspector reported against this action. No doubt he was right from the department's point of view, but it was hard on us, when the people close to us can allow their orchards to get infested with disease and be still able to sell their fruit, whereas we cannot.

(The witness retired.) —————————

JOHN THOMPSON LOGUE, Retired Farmer and Grazier, Mojalup Cottage, Cookernup, sworn and examined: (the witness, who was somewhat hard of hearing, was asked by the Chairman to make a statement to the Commission, bringing to their notice such matters as he considered would be of advantage to the industry.)

11130. To the CHAIRMAN: I have passed my 83rd birthday. I have been in the southern districts for 72 years. There is one great difficulty everywhere, namely, the want of labour. Labour is like the Irishman, in my opinion, who found that his blanket was so short that he cut a piece off the end in order to put it on the top. The producer is in the same position. He tries to produce, but finds at the end of the year he is only losing as labour is so high. If labour was cheaper it would be better for the labourer and for the producer. As to the prospects of this district, there are parts of it suitable for dairying. The encouragement of production of summer fodder for cows is one of the greatest benefits the district could have. Next to dairying is sheep. We want to make two blades of grass grow where one used to grow before. We want to increase the nutritive value of the country, and I consider that lime is badly wanted between Waroona and Harvey. The man there requires phosphate of lime in order to bring it to its maximum productivity. Then, coming to the fruit industry, there is little advantage in growing fruit on account of the market. We want more scientific knowledge in order to deal satisfactorily with the orchard question. Another matter is the production of wine. I consider that it would be a good thing if this would take the place of some of the horrible mixtures that we get now. I have been all over the Swan district and I do not see why we cannot produce as well here. There is a lot of land in this district that will produce wine grapes and raisins but will not produce anything else. In this industry also there is a great drawback in the matter of labour. The question of drainage