6981a. To the CHAIRMAN: I cannot make a decent living under the present conditions. The cost of machinery hampers me too much. Even if the Government were to give me 2,000 acres of land free of charge I would still be sat upon by the machinery merchants, and the land would ultimately become their property.

6982. By Mr CLARKSON: The Government cannot dictate to private firms as to what prices they shall charge for their own goods? -I objected to the tariff on the farmers machinery. The Government should be their own manufacturers.

6983. But the duties are put on in order to encourage the local manufacturers.

6984. The CHAIRMAN: The Government has tried to manufacture implements and failed.

6985. By Mr CLARKSON: You have had your land for 17 years. How many acres of your poison lease have been cleared of poison during that time? --Seven or eight acres.

6886. Have you not to eradicate the poison under these terms of your lease? --I think I have 30 years to do that in.

6987. By Mr PAYNTER: What induced you to hang on to your land for so long? --I could not abandon it after so many years.

(The Witness Retired.)

Henry Lorimer Forrester, Farmer, Northern Gully, sworn and examined:

6988. To the CHAIRMAN: I have been settled in this district for 12 years. I was previously farming with my brother in South Australia; we are partners and trade as Forrester Bros. I was born on a farm at Crystal Brook in South Australia, and I have been on farms ever since. We hold 11,600 acres of c.p. land. The present land varies from 10s down to 2s 6d. Roughly, we have 2,000 acres at 10s and the other runs from 6s down to 2s 6d an acre. The 2s 6d land is sandplain and was originally a portion of Mount Erin estate. We have 4,000 acres at Isseka siding and the balance at Northern Gully siding. We are between a mile and two miles from the railway. About 1,700 acres are cleared. The whole of the land is fenced with the exception of about 2,000 acres. It is subdivided and sheep-proof fenced. We have both wells and springs. The country is well watered. I am a married man with six children, but I have to send the children to the East to school as the nearest school to the property is seven miles distant. My house is of stone, and was on the land when I purchased it. It contains six rooms. my brother lives in a stone house on the farm four miles away. We have a good iron stable and implement sheds and barns all of iron, and a full farming plant. We have 30 working horses and 15 milking cows, together with 3,000 sheep. We have had financial assistance from the Union Bank since we have been in the State. The bank told us that it was advisable to reduce the overdraft, but they did not insist on it and that was two years ago. In the event of our requiring further accommodation at a later date I think we could manage it. We have not seen much of the officials of the Agricultural Department or received any advice or assistance from them as to farming methods.

6989. To Mr CLARKSON : This year we have 960 acres in crop, and about 600 acres was fallow.

6990. If fallow became the general practice, to what extent would it increase the output of the district? --On good land as much as five or six bushels to the acre, and I expect about the same on inferior land. Of the late wheats, such as Marshalls, or Yandilla King, we sow a bushel. Of the early wheats, one and a quarter bushels to the acre and 70 to 75 lbs. of super. One of our favourite wheats is Toby's Luck. If they were all good seasons we would grow Marshall's and Yandilla King, but with dry seasons the early wheats come out on top.

6991. Selection of wheat is what the farmer should look to? --It should be one of his main studies.

6992. By Mr PAYNTER: Do you think the farmer should attend to that branch of his calling himself? --No, certainly not. We have experimental State farms and they should carry out that work in the district.

6993. To Mr CLARKSON: Taking the last five years, what we have done is this: In 1913 we had 22 bushels from 60 acres. In 1914 we had four bushels from 920 acres; that was the drought year. In 1915 we had 10 bushels off 1,000 acres, and this year we anticipate 16 bushels from 940 acres. We have stripped Marshall's No. 3, and that went 27 bushels.

6994. How many bags must you get to pay your costs? --We consider that we must have 12 bushels to pay actual costs. Possibly others may have to get more, because if you are working on a large scale you can work more economically. A man with four or five furrows would plough cheaper than a man with three. If a man told me it cost him 14 bushels to pay expenses I would be quite prepared to believe him. Perhaps his land would be stony or he might be in a small way and might have to use small teams.

6995. Do you think the farming methods here are as good as they might be? --No. When we came here first we got fair returns by ploughing and putting in. The first year I had 12 bushels and no fallow. That was on York gum land. The object is to get as much land cleared as possible without sacrificing everything else. We use a five-furrow mouldboard plough, and seven or eight horses. We do one acre per furrow. We use a 15 disc drill and do about 15 acres. We have two Massey-Harris harvesters, one May Bros. and one State. I suppose they do five or six acres a day each. The use of the largest possible machinery, if the land lends itself to it, would reduce your costs. We know what we have to pay for our bags, and if we had bulk handling we would have to do away with reaper-threshers altogether and go back to the old strippers because of the wear and tear on a complete harvester, which is considerable, while that on a stripper is little or nothing. You lose no time with a stripper. Now with the harvester we have to have bags and with bulk handling we would dump wheat in a heap and cart it away as we clean it up. Our intention, if bulk handling were introduced, was to cart 100 bags to the siding in one trip with two wagons. In the meantime we would be cleaning up the next load, so that with 200 corn sacks we would be able to handle the whole of the harvest and all the horses would be available for carting. Two men could work the power winnower. There would be a saving in bags, and the extra work in handling the crop you would make up in the time you lose with the harvester, which is al—