quired, but this was knocked on the head two years ago and we are only now doing work for caslr, where it is available through the Agricultural Bank. But the Department of Agriculture is not doing anything outside of this. If the settlers can find the cash for the work, or have the Agricultural Bank behind them, the work will be proceeded with.

12060. By Mr. VENN: Say a man had 50 acres of pulling to be done in a certain district and forwarded you an application, would you do it?—Not unless an engine was close handy. To get an engine, say, from Busselton to Dardanup would not pay. It would cost from £20 to £40 to rail it there, according to trucking facilities. If you had 200 or 300 acres in a district, it would pay to take an engine there. When the department closed the work, which, I may say, was brought under Trading Concerns Act, the balance sheets showed that the work had been a success, and no loss had been incurred so far as the department was concerned. Further to my previous remarks, I may say, if you had 100 acres and another man alongside had five acres, and the distance between was not considerable, we would, of course, undertake it. At Harvey, for instance, we undertook a number of small areas from even one to two acres. I can give you an idea of the cost per acre, and you will observe that these range from 25s. to 40s., as an average for different districts. At the start of this work the department certainly made a loss. In 1910 they pulled 10,073 acres, which cost the department £4 7s. 1d. per acre; while the average charge to the settler was £2 10s. 9d. per acre. The department, therefore, incurred a los of £1,747. In 1911, 4,112 acres were pulled, costing the department £2 3s. 5d. per acre, while the settler was charged £2 3s. per acre. The position improved in 1915. 6,879 acres were pulled, costing the department £1 5s. 8d. per acre, for which the settlers were charged £1 7s. 1d. and a profit resulted of £400 and £800 over the last two years' operation.

12061. By the CHAIRMAN: Do these figures embrace the total of your operations?—Yes, 23,000 acres were pulled up to 1915. We have done a lot of Government work since which is not contained in the figures, and a few jobs have been done for private individuals.

12062. By Mr. VENN: Do you find the engines successful in green country?—Yes, and presumably an advantage to the settlers. You would have to wait two years for the timber to die. The engines certainly do better work, however, in dead timber.

                                                                                                      (The witness retired.)

                                                                                                           ———————

                                                                                                   FRIDAY, 12th APRIL, 1918.
                                                                                                                 (At Perth.) 

                                                                                                                   ————

                                                                                                                    Present:
                                                                                                       J. O. Giles, Esq. (Chairman).
                                                                                B. L. Clarkson, Esq.                  H. H. Paynter, Esq.
                                                                                                               F. E. Venn, Esq.

                                                                                                               ————————

JOHN HENRY MAXWELL LEFROY, District Surveyor, Lands Department, sworn and examined:

12063. By the CHAIRMAN: What is the area of the Denmark Estate?—26,731 acres.

12064. What was the price paid to Millars for the land and the railway?—£50,000, of which £23,200 represented the value of the railway, and the balance, £26,800, the land.

12065. By whom was the purchase authorised?—By resolution of both Houses of Parliament when Sir Newton Moore was Miniter for Lands in 1907—it was not acquired under the Agricultural Lands Purchase Act.

12066. What is the total cost to date with interest and charges added; by cost I mean the original capital cost of the land with all losses, charges and additions so as to show the amount the land of the Denmark Estate owes the State to-day?—Approximately £75,318. The cost of purchase to the Lands Department has been £26,000, the expenditure for clearing, survey, etc., £29,480, interest to 31st December, 1917, on the purchase money approximately £9,324 and interest to the same date on clearing, approximately £9,714. That makes up the total.

12067. Does that include the money spent by the Government on such items as seed?—It includes everything. Speaking from memory, the seed item represents £2,201.

12068. As far as you know, the total of £75,318 includes all losses and interest and revels the amount the Denmark estate owes to the State to-day?—Yes, in respect of the land as against the railway.

12069. What is the area held and the total value of the land sold?—There are 347 selections containing 19,234 acres, including some town and suburban lots. The total value of the rural land sold is £14,674 6s. 9d. town lots £5,855 9s. 3d., or a total of £20,529 16s.

12070. What is the total number of holdings now in occupation and the number abandoned?—There are 101 abandoned holdings containing 7,331 acres and 246 blocks are held comprising an area of 11,903