Mallee - Part 1

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TUESDAY, 24th OCTOBER,1916. (At Norseman.)


Present: Charles Edward Dempster, Esq. (Chairman). Matthew Thomas Padbury, Esq. Ranald McDonald, Esq.


ROBERT FRANCIS HONNER, aged 45, Storekeeper, Norseman, married—no children—sworn and examined :

249. By the CHAIRMAN : Do you hold any land in Esperance district ?—No. 250. Have you had business with the farmers in the mallee ?—Yes. In general produce, such as wheat, chaff and eggs. I have been through the mallee twice. I will be prepared to take up 2,000 acres and work it when the railway is built. I have had considerable experience of farming in the mallee in Yorke's Peninsula. The mallee land is similar to that, both in regard to soil and the native growth. The rainfall in the north of the peninsula is 12 inches. I was born near Ardrossan, where the first stump jump plough was built. In the early days there they got very poor crops for a long time in consequence of the mallee shoots and inadequate cultivation. There was no super and very little fallowing. I have been 20 years in Western Australia, but I visit Yorke's Peninsula every two years. All my people are still there. During the last few seasons they have been getting very prolific crops on Yorke's Peninsula. The present value of the improved mallee there is approximately £8 per acre. A little while ago, before labour became so scarce, it was a little more. The improvements would be worth, perhaps, £3 per acre, leaving £5 as the unimproved value. The country there is sandy on the surface, with a clay subsoil, the same as in the Norseman-Esperance district. They are still using the stump jump plough to get rid of the mallee suckers and they fire the stubble from time to time. To get his land cleared on the Yorke's Peninsula takes a man five or six years. By that time he would have the root and sucker trouble right behind him. The rainfall in the south of the Peninsula would be 13 inches. I have seen crops growing at Gross Patch and at Salmon Gums three years ago. They were fair crops, but thin and pretty short. It was a not favourable season and I do not think the seed was thick enough. I saw them in September. On Yorke's Peninsula they worked almost entirely on fallow. Until they tried that method, they were not meeting with much success. The business I have done with farmers in the Esperance mallee has been of a satisfactory nature. I know Mr. Lewis. I knew him on Yorke's Peninsula. He has been farming near the Salmon Gums for a number of years and has been in the habit of carting his stuff to Norseman. In my business as storekeeper I have a good knowledge of the residents of these fields. I think a good many people would be induced to take up land in the mallee if the railway were built. I have heard many declare that they would immediately go on the land, but all agree that without the railway it is an impossible proposition. A number of my friends in South Australia who find a difficulty in getting land in their own district, have expressed to me a willingness to come over here as soon as the railway is built. 251. Do you think the poor results in the mallee here are attributed to the salinity of the soil ?—I do not think they have been due to anything in the soil, but rather to the wretched methods of cultivation and the want of experience on the part of the settlers. It is a continual borrowing of horses and implements and I have known half the crop to be left on the ground. Frequently the work has been done by contract and hurried through as fast as possible. I was appointed agent for Harris, Scarfe's. We found freights very high and most of the settlers desired to have their implements landed in Esperance, so we have had very little business at this end. The railway freights are exceedingly high and the price of carting from Norseman to the mallee is equally deterring. Berry comes from Scaddan, 70 miles stretch, with eggs once a fortnight and takes stuff back. On his last visit he brought 400 dozen eggs. The price he gets here is 1s. wholesale. Many of the eggs are sent up to Coolgardie. He collects the eggs from different farmers on his way. Poultry and pigs do remarkably well in the mallee. The only practical way of disposing of the settlers' wheat is the cultivation of pigs and poultry. In their inexperience the farmers in the mallee seen to use the most haphazard methods ; sowing at the wrong time, selecting the wrong wheat, and doing nothing as it ought to be done. The unsatisfactory crops ought not to be permitted to condemn the country. There is an abundance of fresh water in the district. Most of the water supply on Yorke's Peninsula is provided by dams and much of the water is brackish. (The witness retired.)

The Commission Adjourned.