MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



26 Augnst, 1919.] 



MR. M. D. BANNISTER, F.S.I. 



[Continued. 



Drilling ... ... 



Once horse-harrowed ... 

 Once rolled, two horses 

 One year's rent and rates 



Cutting and binding 



Harvestin-g ... 



Threshing and carting at 8s. 

 per qr 



At per acre. 



s. d. s. d. 



. = 70 146 



. = 20 070 



. = 20 070 



. = 21 3 13 6 



. = 18 6 349 



= 18 333 



lj years' rent and rates 

 Cutting and binding ... 

 Harvesting 

 Threshing and carting at 12s. 

 per qr. ... 



10 

 45 6 



12 18s. lOd. 



Estimated yield : 25 qrs. oats, 4 tons straw. 



5729. (9) Fifteen Acres of Light Land on Chalk. 

 Wheat 1919 after Mangolds 1918. 



At per acre. 



s. d. s. d. 



Once ploughed, 2 horses ... = 36 27 10 

 Three times horse-harrowed 



at 2s = 60 4 10 



Twice rolled, 2 horses at 2s. ... = 40 300 



l.'i Sacks wheat at 90s. per qr. 33 15 



Dressing wheat = 20 1 10 



Drilling, 3 horses = 70 550 



30 cwt. superphosphate ... 11 12 6 

 15 cwt. sulphate ammonia ... 12 15 

 Carriage and applying artifi- 

 cial manure ... ... ... = 50 3150 



Shrilly Work. 



Once horse-harrowed = 20 1 10 



Once rolled, 2 horses ... ... = 20 1 10 



1 year's rent and rates ... = 11 850 



Cutting and binding = 20 15 



Harvesting = 20 15 



Threshing and carting at 12s. 



per qr 27 



11 8s. 6d. per acre. 



171 7 



Estimated yield: 45 qrs. wheat, 7J tons straw. 



.">7:>n. (l't) Si-nii .\i-i-i .- ../ Soil ax .\o. 9. Oats and 

 Hurl,-!/ 1919 after lt<i[>e folded. 



At per acre. 



s. d. s. d. 

 Proportion of cultivations and 



seed and manure for Rape 27 15 10 



Folding = 60 21 



Once ploughed. 2 h.,i>e, ... = 36 12 12 



Twice bone-harrowed at 2s. ... = 4 180 



Tw-ice harrowed, 2 horses, at 2s. = 4 180 

 35 bushels seed, oats and barley 



at 70s. per qr. 15 6 3 



Drilling = 70 2 ! (I 



Sr-ven cwt. sulphate ammonia 5 19 



II cwt. superphosphate ... 589 



Carriage, mixing and applying ^=50 1 15 (I 



One year's rent and rat. ^ 11 3 17 



Cutting and binding = 20 700 



Harvesting ... ... ... = 19 7 13 



Threshing and carting at 9s. 



per qr. 11 G 



124 12 4 



17 16s. per acre. 



Kstiniaied y'eld: 24J qrs. oate and barley, 2f tons 

 of straw. 



5731. (11) 24 Acrrx of Soil n.t No*. 9 ,ind 10. 

 Whrat after Clear Fallow folded with Sheep. 



At per acre 



s. d. 8. d. 



Twice steam ploughed ... = 80 06 



Once ploughed, 2 horses ... = 36 43 4 

 Three tii harrowed at 



f 2s = 60 740 



50 loads sheep dung, carted 



anil spread at 1-.. ... 1150 



Folding = SO 60 



12 <irs. wheat at W)- . per qr. 48 



Drilling ... = 70 880 



24 ewt. sulphate ammonia ... 20 8 O 



' : .-iipci pin,. {ihale 18 12 



Carriage, mixing and applying = 50 fi 



At per acre. 



s. d. s. d. 



. = 16 6 19 16 



= 20 24 



= 20 24 



17 6s. 4d. per acre. 



28 16 

 415 13 



Estimated yield : 48 qrs. of wheat, 9^ tons of 

 straw. 



5732. (12) 28 Acres of Soil as Nos. 9, 10 and 11. 

 Oats 1919 after Ley Mown 1918. 



At per acre. 



s. d. s. d. 



Once ploughed, 2 horses ... = 36 50 8 

 Four times horse-harrowed at 



2s = 80 11 4 



Once rolled, 2 horses = 20 2160 



17 qrs. seed oats at 65s. ... 56 17 6 



Drilling = 70 9 16 



28 cwt. sulphate ammonia ... 23 16 



56 cwt. superphosphate ... 21 14 



i arriage, mixing and applying = 50 700 



One year's rent and rates ... = 11 15 8 



Cutting and binding = 20 28 



Harvesting = 19 26 12 



Threshing and carting at 9s. 



per qr. 63 



11 6s. IJd. per acre. 



;C316 11 6 



Estimated yield : 140 qrs. oats, 12-J tons straw. 

 (This concludes the cvidence-in-chief.) 



0733. Sir William Ashley: Confining our attention 

 to the production of wheat one notices a very remark- 

 able difference in the costs shown. No. 1 seems to be 

 about over 7 a quarter; No. 4 seems to be about 2os. 

 a quarter ; No. 5 seems to be about 7os. a quarter ; 

 No. 9 seems to be over 68s. a quarter, and No. 11 seems 

 to be 160s. a quarter, or more, deducting the straw in 

 each case:' Yes. 



5734. With these great divergencies what lessons do 

 you think we ought to derive from these figures? I 

 think that the largo differences are entirely duo to the 

 different soils and the extraordinary season which we 

 have had. Where you find the costs are very high it 

 is almost in every case light thin soil which cannot 

 stand a drought. My experience this year in Sussex 

 has bivn that on the clay land once the corn got estab- 

 lished it could stand a drought, but on these thin light 

 lands where there is a shaley subsoil they have dried 

 right out, and the crop has been to a very large 

 extent a failure. I must candidly confess that the 



: wi-re an astounding thing to me- I had no idea 

 that they were going to come so wide apart and what 

 price one should fix as an average price for the whole 

 country seems to me a very much more difficult ques- 

 tion to decide now than I should have thought it wa< 

 before I went into those figures. 



5735. Taking the extreme cases, No. 1 and No. 11, 

 were those cases where the cultivation of wheat was 

 compulsory? No, I have taken no cases for this pur- 

 pose where the cultivations are on land broken u\> 

 compulsorily. I thought it was not a fair test for the 

 ordinary routine of farming to give instances where 

 land is put in either two 01 vhree white straw crop 

 running, or on land which is broken xip by order of 

 the Executive, which possibly the farmer and other 

 people may not have thought was a very wise move in 

 some cases. Undoubtedly there have been failures on 

 the part of Executives as there have been in the case 

 of all other bodies. For that reason I have taken no 

 land for this purpose which has been pasture and 

 which has been broken up ; this is all arable land, and 

 land that has been arable for ten years. 



5736. How did you obtain such figures as. for in- 

 stance, in No. 1. once ploughed two horses 36s., twice 

 tractor ploughed at .?0s., twice tractor cultivated at 

 11)-.. and once horse harrowed at 2s. Are these actual 

 payments:- The ploughing in No. 1 is two-horse work, 

 and we consider in that district, each horse is worth 

 10s. a day. I am taking the statutory day. 



