about £10 landed on the farm. If the crops have to warrant a railway, there will not be any railway, because the railway must be there first to warrant the crops. This year alone 30 bags of my wheat have gone to waste through mice and birds because I could not get it away. I have had assistance from the Agricultural Department. It was not satisfactory. I had a lot of trouble in getting it. They allowed 8s. per acre on fallowing less 20 per cent. I finished a piece of ground costing £46, and I wanted to buy a horse with the money. They took off the interest, super, and rent and sent me £9, with which, of course, I could do nothing. That is the way with them; you think you have money coming and you find you have not. I had to leave the farm and go out to earn money. I have experimented with super and I find that 60lbs. is about right, but I think we want something besides super, such as nitrogen or potash. Stable manure will grow a beautiful crop. Of seed I sow from 40lbs. to 60lbs. according to the time of sowing.

317. Are you satisfied with the prospects of a return for your outlaw?—Not yet, but I think it will come.

318. By Mr. PADBURY: What do you think you require to make you satisfied?—Thorough clearing of the land. I cannot stop on my land without earning money elsewhere. With a railway to a market I could stay on my land and clear thoroughly. I put about 20 loads of stable manure on one acre of my worst ground. It grew a lovely crop. That was last year. This year there is on that patch a good crop of rubbish.

319. By Mr. McDONALD: You are on good mallee country?—Yes, but not like the Victoria mallee near Wedderburn, out towards Wimmera. I have worked on new land in Victoria. My father got very poor results there in the first years, only seven bushels to the acre. Some of that land has grown 30 bushels since then. The land here is not so good, but the rainfall is better. I have very little black mallee here, and I wish I had less. The unsatisfactory yields, I attribute to the suckers and to rust and septoria. There is no salt in the land or at least not enough to hurt us. In Victoria you can see it white in place. At the request of the Agricultural Department, I have taken samples of soil for analysis from low lying portions of my land. I took three pairs of samples, one at six inches and one at a foot. I took them from three different parts of the block, all low lying. This was about June or July, 1911. Since then Mr. Middleton has taken some. I do not know where he took his from.

320. By the CHAIRMAN: Did you sink many of these dams round here?—Five or six. The price varied according to conditions from 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per yard. Some of the dams have never been empty since they were constructed.

321. Is there anything else you would like to tell us?—The Government have been supplying us with super., but too late in the year. We should be working our ground in March. The super. came and we had to stop work, and cart it from Esperance. In consequence we did our sowing in June instead of April or May. We have had super lying in Esperance for a month without any instructions. Then when it is too late, we can have more than we want.

(The witness retired.)

HENRY JOSEPH JENKINS, aged 56, hotelkeeper, Gibson's Soak, married, four boys and four girls, ages four years to 20, sworn and examined:

322. By the CHAIRMAN: Where is your eldest boy?—In France. I have had no experience of farming. I hold 1,000 acres of Conditional Purchase at Scaddan, Loc. 445, and 160 acres of Homestead at Gibson's Soak, together with five acres of freehold at the same place. On the Conditional Purchase land I have 200 acres partly cleared. Most of it has been cultivated. In 1911 I had in six acres, and got 25 cwt. to the acre. I have a dam of 700 yards nine feet deep, and an iron shed. The dam was constructed three years ago. It filled directly afterwards, and has been full ever since. I have paid only two years' rent. The balance has been arranged through the Agricultural Department. I have had assistance from the department for clearing, etc. I have grown four crops altogether. I had 30 acres in in 1912, which went half a ton to the acre. In 1913 I had in 70 acres, which went half a ton of hay and seven bushels of wheat. In 1914 I had in 120 acres; the result was about seven cwt. of hay or a total of about 15 tons, and about four bushels of wheat to the acre. I had bad luck in regard to storms and rust. The crop was there, but it was wasted. I did nothing in 1915, nor have I done anything this year.

323. Are not these crops very unsatisfactory?—It was largely the fault of the cultivation. Most of mine was put in with a light disc. I ploughed and harrowed 50 acres in the second year, and put it in sowing 50 lbs. of super. and 50 lbs. of seed. It does not appear to be sufficient. At Gibson's Soak I had 20 acres cleared and under cultivation one year, but got no result at all. The ground was too low, and there was too much water. I have a reaper and binder, but no other machinery. I think the land would be thoroughly worked if we had a railway. It is not possible to work it at a profit without a railway.

324. By Mr. PADBURY: Is your land similar to other land round about?—No. Part of it is dark loamy land, easy to plough. I have never been in a position to properly work my land. I have not tried any stock. I am satisfied with the way the grass is coming on the cleared land. There are fresh water swamps on the blocks.

325. By the CHAIRMAN: Do you remember seeing the crop at the Swan lagoon, by Meadow's—Yes, it went a ton to the acre without super. A small patch of about 10 acres was cropped for two years and it went a ton each year. I saw both crops.

326. By Mr. McDONALD: Did you say that the best of the cultivated land adjoining Rogers' has been cropped only once?—No, that has been cropped three years. It was disced the first year and has been ploughed once since. The third crop was self-sown. Samples of soil for analysis were taken off my block near a place that becomes a bit salty later on. I had grown a good crop on that place.

327. By the CHAIRMAN: How long have you been in this district?—About 20 years. Grass Patch was selected just before I came here. They started to farm it when I first came to Esperance. I cannot say what was the result of their crops. The place belonged to an English company. The first manager's name was Cold or Colt. He was not there long; he