Mallee - Part 1

Image 23
image 23 of 89

This transcription is complete

EARNEST WILLIAM STEARNE, aged 49, Plumber, Kalgoorlie, married, one child—girl 15 years—sworn and examined.

132. By The CHAIRMAN: You own or occupy any land in the Esperance district?—Yes, a thousand acres C.P. at Grasspatch, Loc. 98, Fitzgerald district. I have held it for five years. I have 500 acres cleared and cultivated with a ring fence. I have a thousand yard dam, but no buildings worth mentioning. The dam has never been empty since we built it in 1912. It is 12 feet deep. The water is perfectly fresh. The dam is in a hollow but not in a brook course.

133. What have been your crop results?—Last year we had the rust and so stripped only 5½ bushels of wheat. We had 200 acres in,some wheat and some oats. I cannot say now what the oats went. It was a fair crop. We cut from 15 cwt. to a ton per acre off 30 acres. I have two men working down there. One of them has his wife and family with him. I have a full farming equipment, all machinery and two good teams of five horses each. I pay my men £2 a week and feed estimated at 15s., although it really costs £1 to keep a man down there. Clearing costs about 25s. including the roots. Some land would cost 30s. For rolling alone I have paid 5s. We had to nick the timber ourselves. There is no salmon gum where I am. The biggest of the mallee we left. It would cost 12s. an acre to remove this. I got some of my rolling done when the tractor was there.

134. What did you think of the traction engine?—It would have been better if petrol had been used instead of kerosene. The tractor could be used for rolling and ploughing and chaff-cutting, and for traction work on the road.

135. What quantity of seed and super did you use?—Just on a bushel of seed, I cannot say what super. To get super. on to the farm represents £11 or £12 per ton. The cartage from Norseman is £5 or £6. We have to cart our wheat 80 miles to the railway. I am satisfied the land would grow wheat profitably provided we had a railway. The rainfall is sufficient and the land is excellent.

136. By Mr. PADBURY: Have you had any stock there other than horses?—Only pigs. There are dingoes there but not many. I have not thrown out any cleared land. I am working it all alternately.

137. By the CHAIRMAN: Have you seen your crop this year?—Not yet, but I understand it will go about 15 bushels. My land has for the most part a clay subsoil and light sandy loam on the surface.

138. By Mr. McDONALD: You think the failure of last year was owing to rust?—I am sure of it.

139. By the CHAIRMAN: If the Government offered you a farm equally well improved at Merredin would you accept it and leave your district?—No, I prefer Grasspatch to Merredin.

140. By Mr. McDONALD: Would you rather be there than anywhere else if you had a railway? —Yes.

141. By the CHAIRMAN: You have not kept sheep. It is almost essential you go in for sheep?—Yes, I am aware of that. I will do it as soon as possible. I have had assistance from the Agricultural Department up to £ 300 I have not had any assistance from the Industries Assistance Board . Last February I applied for some grass country about six miles from me. My money was returned and six months afterwards I received a notification that this land would be thrown open and advising me to watch the Government Gazette. This particular land is close to good fresh water and I wanted it for my own horses. It is known to me as Meadow's Swamp. That block is necessary to me. I have sent down to my farm a Clydesdale stallion which I imported from South Australia. There are no school facilities in the district and the youngsters are growing up without education.

142. By Mr McDONALD: Are you satisfied with the way the feed comes on in the old fields after cultivation?—Yes, not all the land is equally well grassed. Good grasses grow there in patches.

143. By the CHAIRMAN: You do not think there is anything in the theory of excessive salt in the soil?—Nothing at all.

144. Do you think the railway from Esperance to the mallee would answer your purpose?—Our purpose would be better suited if it came out to Norseman. At present our produce is rotting for want of transport.

(The witness retired.) ——————

WILLIAM ROBERT BURTON, aged 50,Commercial Agent, married, four children—three girls and one boy, ages 14 to 29; affirmed and examined:

145. By the CHAIRMAN: You own or occupy any land in Esperance district?—I have town lot 148 and a couple of acres out at West Beach. I once took up a thousand acres of C.P. land and paid rent on it for four years. I understand it has since been forfeited. At all events, I have abandoned it. The mallee lands are suitable for wheat growing, but I have no practical knowledge of it. The rainfall is highly satisfactory. The farmers have to pay prohibitive rates of freight and cartage. On the evidence of reports furnished by Government officers, I believe the district to be valuable for wheat growing.

146. By Mr. McDONALD: Were you advised to select land there yourself?—Yes.At Esperance I saw Mr. Paterson, the manager of the Agricultural Bank. I told him I was thinking of taking up 1,000 acres for myself and 4,000 acres for friends of mine who had asked me to take it up if I could find that it was all right. I asked Mr. Paterson would I be wise in doing so, and he put his hand on my shoulder and said "Young man, you cannot go wrong. The land is all right and it will pan out all right." On that I sent a wire from Esperance applying for 5,000 acres of land. I got only 2,000. One of my friends got 1,000 acres, and I got the other. Mr. Thompson of Grass patch selected the land for me. This was when Mr. Paterson first came to Esperance. The then Minister for Lands, Mt Mitchell, was with him, together with Professor Lowrie, Mr Muir, and Mr. Johnston, the late Surveyor General.

147. By Mr PADBURY: Did you ask Mr. Paterson for his advice?—Yes. I really was asking his advice. I stood the chance of a rebuff. This was after Mr. Paterson had gone through the district inspecting the land. We were willing to take up the land, but we did not intend to make improvements until the railway was built. When goldfields residents go to Esperance they secure a complete change of climate.