MONDAY, 30th OCTOBER, 1916. (At Esperance.)

Present

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

SARAH ANN STEWART, aged 65, Farmer, Dalyup River, window, nine sons and three daughters, ages 21 to 42—sworn and examined:

345. By the CHAIRMAN: What land do you hold in this district?—Locations 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, a total area of approximately 2,000 acres. I have been living in the district for 20 years. I took up the land in 1897. My husband was then living. Only locations 3, 4, 5, and 6 are freehold. The balance has been held for different periods ranging from five years.They have been fenced and worked in conjunction with the others. I went to live on the land with the greater part of my family in 1898. The land is ring fenced and partly subdivided and netted. I have a six-roomed stone house, over 200 acres cleared, one permanent well, three fresh water swamps, one dam five feet deep and another over five feet deep. I cannot say that they are permanent. I have one fresh water spring, sheds, stables, pigsties. and fowl houses. I cannot say what is the total value of the improvements, but Brown, the surveyor, said there were sufficient improvements on locations 1, 3, and 4 to fulfil the conditions for the lot. I have grown crops on the land over here for 18 years. I have never had an absolute garbage failure. If we have excessive rains in August the crops suffer. When we were growing vegetables for Norseman market 16 years ago, we grew practically the whole range. Fruit trees also do very well. We have had cauliflowers of 17lbs. weight and cabbages of 24lbs. weight. We carted our vegetables to Norseman, 126 miles, with a buggy and three horses. We are 16 miles from the railway survey. Last year we averaged nearly two tons to the acre. 39½ acres of wheat gave us 60 tons Oats went to two tons to the acre. We always use super. Last year I had bonedust. We use about 56lbs. to the acre. We keep sheep, cattle, horses, and pigs. Stock do well on the Dalyup. I ploughed my crops. I have had a drill for three seasons. When I started farming on the Dalyup we had some cows, but no horses or sheep. Most of what I have to-day I have made on the land. Some of it is due to the efforts of the boys in working outside. One cannot start on the land without capital. We have rabbits in the district, but they do not trouble our crops becuase the crops are wire-netted. There is in the district other land as good as ours. The dingoes killed four sheep last year, in spite of the wire-netting. We do not, as a rule, yard our sheep. On the whole I am satisfied with my prospects of a return for my outlay. I cart my potatoes 25 miles to market at Esperance. The land must have paid me because I am not in debt. I have had no assistance from the Agricultural Department or the Industries Assistance Board. Nearly one-third of my land is fit for the cultivation of fruit or root crops. The average rainfall for the last 15 years has been 23 inches.

346. By Mr. PADBURY: How much land in your locality is as good as yours?—Plenty of it. Some is even better. None but our first crop has been grown without super. The timber consists of yate, paper bark, munji, and black and blue mallee. I cannot say what it costs to clear, because our clearing was done by home labour. Except it is kept cleared it is soon overrun with scrub again. We generally grub clean out. The crops are better since we have had the drill. We do not plough deep. We have had no trouble in securing a supply of fresh water. We get scanty patches of crop where the water lies. We border the edge of Lake Gage, a salt lake. We have no cultivation within a quarter of a mile of the lake. None of our crops have been affected by salt. Where the soil is supposed to be salt we find it best for root crops. The water in the dam never goes salt.

347. By Mr. McDONALD: At what price did you take up your land?—At 10s. per acre. There is sandplain adjoining our holding, both on the West and the East.

348. By the CHAIRMAN: What you want is a market?—Yes. We could have grown more stuff and done better with it if we had had a market. We have been sorely handicapped for want of marketing facilities.

(The witness retired.)

CAROLINE JOHNSON, aged 39, farmer, Dalyup River, married, three daughters, eldest 13 years—sworn and examined:

349. By the CHAIRMAN: What land do you hold in this district?—Locations 25, 26, and 27, about 300 acres. I have held some of it for 18 years. About 125 acres is freehold and cleared. The total area cleared is 150 acres. I have held the two C.P. blocks 10 or 11 years. All the blocks are fenced. I have 10 acres of orchard, 10 years old. Fruit trees and vines do well from the very planting. We get magnificent fruit. We have to consume as much of it ourselves as we can, feeding it to pigs and fowls. A little of it we cart into Esperance, our only market, 23 miles distant. I bring it in myself, four or five