PROGRESS REPORT OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES ON THE SETTLED PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH-WEST COASTAL AREAS.

To His Excellency the Right Honourable Sir William Grey Ellison-Macartney, Privy Councillor, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor in and over the State of Western Australia and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY—

In accordance with the term of the Commission, dated the thirteenth of September, 1916, empowering the members to inquire into and report upon the condition of Agriculture in Western Australia, and the methods necessary to insure the improvement of the industry; and to investigate the condition of the secondary industries associated therewith, we have the honour to submit the following further progress report:—

AREA OF INVESTIGATION. The districts investigated extend from Mogumber on the North, covering the plains to the West of the Darling Ranges to Busselton, and include the settlements on the valleys of the Preston and Blackwood Rivers as far as Boyup Brook and Dinninup. The Commission also visited the forest country surrounding Manjimup and Big Brook and the settlement at Torbay, Denmark, Nornalup, and Mount Barker. At this stage, the Government has requested the Commission to terminate its investigation, and in deference to its wished we have closed the inquiry. The country which we did not traverse is, roughly, that south of a line drawn from the Margaret River to Big Brook, and from thence, running easterly to Mount Barker. Within this area we have only visited Denmark and Nornalup.

WITNESSES. We have held 27 sittings, at which 182 witnesses attended, including 151 farmers, Dairymen, Orchardists and Poultry men, six Merchants and Storekeepers, 18 Government Officials, two Roads Board Secretaries, one member of Parliament, two Bank Officials, one Journalist and one Schoolmaster. Witnesses attended freely and were eager to place at the disposal of the Commission all the information they could offer.

CLASS OF SOILS. The country examined presents an infinite variety of soils, ranging from the extremely poor, sandy, coastal country to the fertile Warren and Blackwood valleys, and embracing the drainage systems already opened out, and the characteristic swamps of the coastal plains, with their striking possibilities.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION. To generalise is difficult, but, broadly speaking the good land follows the rivers in narrow belts, giving place rapidly, inland, to poor jarrah country, or, nearer the coast, to the barren sands of the coastal area. Apart from the river valleys, with the exception of the cultivable plains from Pinjarra to Bunbury, the country is mostly forest, or country which has a limited value for grazing. The coast proper is usually fronted by the coastal sand dunes, which are a useful change of country for inland stock.

AREA OF OCCUPIED COUNTRY. Your Commissioners regret to report that the South-West is a country of great expectations and great disappointments. Ostensibly we had 17,600,000 acres of the State's territory to report upon—an area which we have always been led to believe by common report embraced a large extent of country suitable for agricultural selection, destined to be dotted by the hamlets of future generations, and capable of great productiveness and expansion. On the contrary, we find that, after allowing some three million acres as the probably permanent reservation of our hardwood forests, and deducting 5,820,000 acres already disposed of, the official estimate is that there only remains some 500,000 acres fit for agricultural selection. Of the balance—something like 8,280,000 acres—the greater portion is poor and worthless ironstone, poison country, indifferent forest, or swampy clay pans. There may be, and probably is, a portion of which some future use may be made for grazing purposes, but, from the observation of your Commissioners, extending over many years in some cases, and reinforced by the general experience of the Commission itself, there is little ground for any optimistic reference to the bulk of this poor country. The estimate of the remaining good cultivable land may be—probably is—conservative, but it is significant, and it has been a distinct shock to you Commissioners to learn that our agricultural heritage is of such shrunken proportions. The only possible augmentation of our agricultural areas in the South-West would be the reservation of the Karri forest for agricultural selection—a debatable step which we set forth at a later stage in our remarks on the forestry question as it affects agriculture.

PRODUCTION. The production of the South-West is varied in the extreme. Before the war the vast forests were exporting timber to the value of over one million sterling per annum, and employed a small army of men and teams. Apples, pears, plums, quinces, peaches, nectarines, apricots, grapes of all kinds, passion fruit, cherries and other fruits, have all been successfully