Mallee - Part 1

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This transcription is complete

May. Six acres sown in July look as well as any. All my children are beyond school age.

292. By Mr. McDONALD: Which is the best time of the year for rolling the mallee?—August. It burns better after having been rolled for some time. The best time for burning is January or early in February. There is no risk in burning here. As a rule the best time to sow is the middle of April finishing in May. I prefer the mould board to the disc. It pulls the stumps out better than the disc. I do not think the other is very good for killing suckers. My land includes a lot of black mallee. I am paying 10s. per acre for my land. I think it is better land nearer the road.

                                                                                            (The witness retired.)
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AUGUSTUS MERRIFIELD RICHARDSON, aged 41, Farmer, North Grass Patch, married, one girl 11 years, one boy six years; sworn and examined:

293. By the CHAIRMAN: What land do you hold?—I have 2,000 acres in my own name and 1,000 in the name of my wife, Locs. 37, 38, and 95. My rents and interest are all paid. I have 400 acres cleared, of which 300 have been worked. I have four miles of fencing, some two barbs and some three wires. I have two dams, one of 2,100 yards and the other of 300 yards. Then there are a house and sheds. The house I valued at £400, clearing at £350, dams £190, fencing £40, sheds £100, total £1,080. The present will be the sixth crop. Until last year the crops were mostly pretty poor. Last year I had in 160 acres. None of it was fallow. It was mostly ploughed in on the stubble of the previous crop. The hay yield was over a ton to the acre or a total of over 20 tons. Portion of the wheat was a total failure and so brought the average down to 4½ bushels. Part of it was put in very late. There was only a trace of rust. The total yield was 180 bags. I have used a good deal of it for feeding pigs and for gristing. Very little has been carted. I still have 100 bags in the shed. This year I sowed wheat from 25lbs. up to 70lbs. By way of experiment, and of super. I used 70lbs. to 80lbs. The 25lbs. seeding is looking better than that of 70lbs. Last year I sowed as low as 19lbs. of wheat in three varieties. One went 15 bushels, one 8 and one 9 bushels to the acre. Other seeding of one bushel went only 4½ bushels. Another variety which I sowed at 45lbs. went 8 bushels. The piece that was sown late and proved a total failure was put in at one bushel to the acre with 70lbs. of super. This year I have 80 acres in crop. Last year I sowed mostly a bushel to the acre with about 60lbs. of super. In one case I sowed 70lbs. of wheat and 80lbs. of super. a piece alongside of it was only 50 lbs. of seed with 80lbs. of super. I reckon the coming crop will average 6 bushels.

294. The crop we saw ought to go more than that?—There is that bad patch in the middle. I will have to cut a good deal for hay. Some of it will go 14 bushels. That piece is sown with only 25lbs. of wheat. The seed got a pinch and so was very small. It would probably make as many as 50 plants on a full seed. The only oats I have sown is 2½ acres, which I want for seed. Speaking generally, I have used 60lbs. of super per acre. We were allowed only half a cwt. by the department. I think we can grow wheat successfully with proper cultivation. My place has not had proper cultivation. I lost four horses and was unable to replace them, and so I could not do the proper cultivation. I have had experience in managing horses, but not much with sheep or cattle. All land should be fallowed and worked on the system of dry farming. Wheat should be sown not later than the middle of May. I think I can continue farming in this district at a profit, but not without railway communication. There is no market except at a prohibitive cost of carting. I have had assistance from the Agricultural Department and from the Industries Assistance Board. If I had had private means, I would have been better without either the Department or the Board. I have had considerable trouble in getting the assistance, and generally it has been delayed so long as to be practically useless when it did come. In one case my super did not land in Norseman until July. I had to make two trips to Norseman with two teams to get it. It meant 77 miles out and back each time. I regard 15 to 20 bushels as a good crop in this district. I have not kept any sheep. I have kept pigs, feeding them principally on wheat and vegetables. I have had very good success with root crops, including cabbages, cauliflowers, lettuces, beets, turnips, and swedes. I mix the seed with the super and run it out on a piece of fallow. The swedes grow to 9lbs. in weight and red beet to 11lbs. All my machinery has come through Norseman. Under present conditions I am not satisfied with my investment in the land. When we took up the land we expected the railway. It had been promised to the district by the Liberal Government when I started. Certainly the place is good enough to warrant a railway. The crop returns have been very poor, but it is all due to the want of proper cultivation, without which the land cannot be sweetened. The land will give much better returns after having been ploughed four or five years.

295. By Mr. PADBURY: How deep have you done your ploughing?—From three to four inches. In one year I ploughed it after fallowing. The season was the driest we have had here, yet the land gave me as good a result as any I have had. Heavy rain fell in the summer time. There was no more, yet the land was in good condition for seeding. I have not tried rolling after seeding. I had no previous experience in farming. The best time to fallow is about July and August. I have had turnips each year and for the most part they have done very well. One year they were eaten off by grubs. The water in the dam is always fresh and ample in quantity. I have children of school age, but there is no school in the district. There are in the district about 14 children of school age. Some of the settlers are sending their children out of the district, but other children are getting no education at all.

296. By Mr. McDONALD: Do you consider your land equal to the surrounding country?—It is of about the average quality. I am paying 10s. per acre for it under C.P. conditions. I think that is too dear, because the mallee is so very hard to clear. The suckers constitute a very heavy handicap. The land here is of no value until cleared.

                                                                                                (The witness retired.)
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