mallee, but not without a railway. I have had experience with horses and cattle and pigs, but not with sheep.

186. By Mr. PADBURY: Are you satisfied with the rainfall down there?—On statistics it is sufficient, and I have no reason for doubting the correctness of the statistics.

187. By the CHAIRMAN: Have you seen any good crops down there?—Yes, at Stevenson's; it was a very fair crop, but I thought it had not been sown sufficiently thick. It was well headed. That was, I think, in 1914, when the rain came very late after a very dry season. If I see any likelihood of a railway I will go on with my C.P. land. The mallee on my land is medium. There are one or two fair catchments on the block. The ground holds well and the water is perfectly fresh.

188. By Mr. PADBURY: Was the disappointment in regard to the railway wholly responsible for your neglecting to go on with your plans?—Yes.

189. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you not think there is going to be a railway there?—I will believe it when I see it. I would be prepared to put my all into the land if the railway were there.

                                                                                               (The witness retired.)
                                                                                                         —  — — 

JOHN JAMES DUFF, age 39, Baker, South Kalgoorlie, married, 5 children—4 boys, 1 girl, ages 2 to 12—sworn and examined:

190. By the CHAIRMAN: You are in business here on your own account?—Yes.

191. Do you hold any land in the Esperance district?—One thousand acres of C.P. Loc. 51, near Grass Patch. I took it up in 1910. I have paid all rent instalments excepting the last, which is now due. Apart from rent I have spent nothing whatever on the land. I was reared on a mixed farm in Victoria until 23 years of age. I have been a little over 16 years in Kalgoorlie. I intend to defer the payments on my land, seeing that there is no prospect of the railway. If the railway went there I would be prepared to put money into the land. I took up the land only on the possibility of a railway. I personally visited Grass Patch. Henchmen selected the land for me. I have a cousin in the Birchip mallee, Victoria, worth over £20,000. At one time he would have walked out for 10s. an acre, but superphosphate and good seasons made him in six or seven years . 192. You know your land is liable for forfeiture by reason of no improvements having been made?—I think there was some understanding as to the deferring of improvements pending the construction of the railway.

193. What authority have you for saying this?—I have seen it published somewhere. I have never received any notice to fulfil improvement conditions.

194. If the railway were built would you work your land?—I would comply with all conditions and develop the land. The country is good enough and the rainfall is sufficient. I have heard experienced South Australian farmers say that it is quite equal to the Pineroo country. The goldfields would furnish a good market. A railway 60 miles north of Esperance would not provide what is required. The freights round the coast are frightfully heavy. I do not know how far my block would be from a siding. I have never inspected it. I think it is only two or three miles from Grass Patch. I understand that the cultivation methods adopted in the district have been far from satisfactory. Some of the settlers have suffered great hardships. I have heard of a wife down there clearing land while here husband worked up here.

                                                                                                       (The witness retired.)
                                                                                                              — — — —  

EDWARD POYNTON, aged 54, Headmaster Kalgoorlie Central School, married—5 daughters, ages 8 to 26—sworn and examined:

195. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you hold any land in the Esperance district?—Not now. I had 1,000 acres there in my own name and 1,000 acres for my boy, whom I lost at the Front three months ago. No improvements were made on the land. A syndicate of five of us selected, thinking it would be less expense to work the land together. On one of the blocks we had a 900 yard dam, costing £83, and a crop of 30 acres put in for feed. Each of the five of us had one block. One of the syndicate was Frick, headmaster of the Esperance school. The improvements were made on Lleewllyn's block—headmaster of the South Fremantle school. We took up the land five years ago. I forfeited mine and have now taken up land in the Williams district. On the Esperance land I paid nothing but the first money, amounting to £11 2s. 3d., on each of the two blocks. Our intention at the time was to go on with it at once, but certain things made us think hard. I have had experience of farming, having been brought up on the land in Victoria until 18 years of age. I had not seen the Esperance land, it was boomed here by the newspapers.

196. Have you visited the land since?—Yes, I went over it four years ago. I have now given the district best. I bought an improved place at Williams and have been working that ever since. Not having tested the Esperance land, I cannot compare it with that at Williams. The results I have obtained at Williams are very satisfactory. To my idea the land in the Esperance district does not correspond with the mallee country in the Eastern States. I think it has far less humus in it. The clay comes too close to the surface. The disability of lack of humus is at present accentuated by the suckers. The average rainfall is probably all right, but for a number of years there have been big gaps in the rain falling at vital times in the year, as for instance between July and October.

197. By Mr. PADBURY: Have you had the average for the months before you?—Yes. On the whole the rainfall would appear to be very satisfactory for wheat growing, but it is not evenly distributed, or at least there is a big chance of uneven distribution. What led me to leave the district was the results obtained by other people. The year I went down there the cry was "too wet." There was an average of eight hundredweight of hay. Only two crops were stripped for wheat, one went seven bushels and the other nine. Next year the cry was "too dry."

198. By the CHAIRMAN: Has it occurred to you that the cost of working the land down there is abnormal?—It is so, and it likely to be so until transport facilities are given. Even with a railway