too short. The sheep industry is the one for this locality.

10763. Reverting to the poison country, what area do you consider a man should have ? — I do not advocate big areas for poison country unless a man has capital to deal with it. I think 500 acres is the maximum area for a man with limited capital.

10764. By Mr PAYNTER : Have you any suggestions to make for the benefit of the country ? — No; I consider that we are all well served in most things.

10765. what is the rainfall in this district ? — I think about 28 inches is the average. In some years we have had 50 inches, which is too much for this class of country.

10766. Do you advocate fallowing ? — Yes , decidedly. Crops without fallow are no good. However, I go in for stock mostly. They give me a better living than cropping. I am starting to breed stud stock.

(The witness retired)

THOMAS WADE, Farm Manager for H. T Hardy, Boree Park, Dinninup, sworn and examined:

10767. To Mr PAYNTER : I have been managing this estate for seven years. It comprises 4,850 acres. None of it is freehold. It is conditional purchase land. It is all fenced, 250 acres cleared and under the plough. It is six miles from Dinninup siding. I have not got all the buildings I require. There is no barn, stabling, or residence. It is a sheep run. I carry 1,750 sheep. This is the carrying capacity for the present. With more improvement you can carry a larger number. In addition we have 25 head of horses. We usually put in a little crop. We planted wheat this year. I have had as much as 25cwt. of hay to the acre. I find it necessary to feed the sheep in February until the grass comes.

10768. By Mr VENN : What class of sheep do you go in for ? — I consider that until the country is improved, the cross-bred sheep will do best. After that the merino. I have topped the market with wool for the last two years. We have obtained as high as 2s. per lb. My experience is that the merino does not do well until the country is improved. I go in for Lincoln-merino. They cut on an average from 7 ½ to 8 lbs. of wool. This is the wool which brought 2s. per lb. We had a little poison country, but I have eradicated the poison. I always go over it for a year before putting stock on it. It was only 10 acres infested with York Road. There is another poison. We have lots of it , but have never had any bad results from it. The country needs to be pretty well eaten out before sheep will tackle it.

10769. By Mr PAYNTER : Have you any suggestions you can offer likely to be of advantage to the district ? — If the Government was to give the York Road poison country to adjoining settlers provided they fenced, grubbed the poison, and stocked it, that country would become an asset to the State. Anyone with experience in poison country knows that there are thousands and thousands of acres of country that men would improve if they could go on to it without payment. Many men have gone on to poison country who knew nothing about poison.

10770. There was a lot of country ringbarked in this locality was there not ? — Yes , a lot of the ringbarked country that the Government tackled would have been better not touched. This land should only have been ringbarked when the men were there to deal with it. Where there was one tree then there are now 40. There will be no progress in this district until the Government does something with the poison country. It would have been taken up 40 years ago but for the poison, but if a man had it, by putting money into clearing the poison, he could make a success of it.

10771. What size holding do you suggest for this poison country ? — I consider that a man should select not less than 2,000 acres. He could then carry 500 good sheep on that country. I consider the settlement of this poison country has not been a success chiefly due to inexperienced men going on to it. The men must also have plenty of money. The zamia palm is another trouble which prevents people from going in for cattle. Sheep in this district develop rickets. It is not the palm so much as the nut. For 16 years we never had rickets in cattle because I used to go around and break off the nuts. The best method of clearing is to stab the palm with a crowbar and use kerosene.

(The witness retired)

GEORGE JAMES CHIDGZEY , representing Chidgzey Bros., Strathavon, sworn and examined:

10772. To Mr PAYNTER : I have been eight years in the district. I have had previous farming experience. Altogether we have 8,000 acres. Of this 1,100 acres is freehold, the balance C. P. We adjoin the railway. We have about 4,000 acres fenced, and 400 to 500 acres has been under the plough. We have 54 acres of orchard. The property is equipped with sufficient building and we run from 1,500 to 3,000 sheep. We have 12 head of cattle and a number of farming horses. We grow all varieties of fruit, but our orchard is only in its seventh year.

10773. Have you any poison country ? — yes , all of our land is poison country.

10774. You go in for dairying, I believe ? — yes , we are dairying successfully but the poison is a great expense. We go through our paddocks systematically. We mark out our paddocks and each man walks along between the strips marked out, grubbing the poison as he goes. Our system is to grub out the plant fill the hole and tramp it down. The best time to do this is in the wet season. After two grubbings we put our stock on it, and then watch it carefully. No matter when we go through we can still find poison. This year we have lost 50 to 60 sheep. You can never get rid of it. The sheep losses add considerably to the cost of clearing.

10775. To Mr VENN : I do not consider Government price of poison country is satisfactory. We pay for some of our land 10s. to 12s. per acre. Before we can put any stock on to it we estimate that the first and second grubbing costs 5s. 6d. an acre. Some of it will cost 30s. an acre. Added to this is the cost of fencing and water supply. There is a large area of poison land available on the Dinninup area. Round here there is not so much