MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



26 Augtut, 1919.] 



MR. ALBERT BUCKLE. 



[Continued. 



30.39. What is the proportion of arable and pasture 

 generally;' I should say somewhere about half. On 

 those farms which I surveyed two years ago, they 

 averaged just about half. 



5060. What is your custom on entry with regard to 

 the payment for hay, straw and manure? The in- 

 coming tenant takes the hay and straw at consuming 

 value. 



5061 . And the manure for labour ? Yes, he gets the 

 manure that has been made during the last year 

 of tenancy. 



.5062. I notice in your cost of production of wheat, 

 you put your farmyard manure at market price? 

 Yes; it cost a good deal mure to produce now with 

 cakes and roots at the price they are at present. 



5063. Yes; but if the custom is that the farmer 

 enters at the consuming price, I take it his agreement 

 would provide that if he did sell off anything in the 

 way of hay or straw, he would have to bring back 

 the equivalent of manurial value P Yes, that is so. 



5064. You have made no allowance for that in your 

 estimate of the cost of production of an acre of 

 wheat or an acre of anything else. You see if you 

 take your cost of production of an acre of turnips, 

 you have no less than 7 Kts. an acre for farmyard 

 manure ? Yes." 



15. It 1 were valuing on that farm, which you put 

 ui 1") tons. I should only allow you the cost of carting 

 the immure on to the land and spreading it? Surely 

 it costs something to produce. You are not changing 

 farms every \. 



506C. Xo ; but you cannot have it both ways. If 

 you are only entitled to a consuming price, what we 

 have to get at here is, as near as we can. the average 

 cost of production of a crop, and therefore we must 

 go right through. There arc some districts where 

 everything is at the market price. Personally. I wish 

 that was the custom everywhere, as it would be much 

 fairer. But I take it in your district that is not so, 

 and it would not really cost a farmer 25 an acre to 

 produce an acre of turnips? We took it as nearly 

 as we thought was the value of the farmyard manure. 



5<>t;7. Of course, all your figures, I take it, are 

 estimates, and not taken from an actual cost basis 

 or account keeping basis? No; they are estimates. 

 T mean I do not see how you can get it in any other 

 way than by an' estimate. 



5068. We have had witnesses before us who have 

 IK en keeping accounts for some time on the new 

 s\-fi in of actual cost of production, booking up the 

 number of hours of the men and the horses which were 

 employed in each field? We have certainly not done 

 that. 



5069. Then with regard to the cost of production 

 of an acre of wheat. You give us, very fairly, two 

 examples. You give us the cost of production after 

 fallow which would bo the most expensive; and you 

 give us the cost of production after potatoes, which 

 would be the least expensive. So that if yon put the 

 two together and divide them, you get a fair average 

 of the cost of production which, not deducting for the 

 straw, would give you an average in round figures of 

 15 an acre:- Yes, something like that. 



5070. Then you say you grow four quarters to the 

 acre and you suggest 70s. as a guarantee. Putting 

 your straw at 3, that would give you 17 an.acre for 

 your produce. That would only give you a margin 

 of 2 an acre profit? Yes, that is BO. 



.VI7I. .May T take it that four quarters is an average 

 crop of wheat? Would not you grow more than four 

 quarters after bare fallow? No. I have been told 

 on many hands that 'I put it too high at four 

 quarters. 



5072. ] should have thought arable land rented at 

 30s. an acre ought to be capable of producing on a 

 high farming principle like this, a four course system, 

 nine sacks? t think it is beyond the mark, the four 

 quarters this year; and on the average I think it is 

 quite enough. 



5073. Of course we cannot take any one particular 

 year. I am aware that this year is a bad year, 

 although it in not a particularly bad year for wheat -. 

 nheiit is the best, crop of all. We must take it on an 

 j-verage of years. Then may we take it from you that 

 [ would lie Miifr in calculating your average yield 

 would be about four quarters to' the acre? Yes, I 

 think is quite enough. 



HIM 



5074. I am rather struck with the cost of production 

 of an acre of turnips. Of course, if you take off tht. 

 very heavy item for manure which is produced on the 

 farm, even then you get 18 an acre, which would 

 appear to be a very high sum and far in excess of the 

 general average. I see you estimate 1 12s. an acre to 

 cart to the pit, and another 1 to cart back again into 

 the turnip house? Yes. 



5075. I take it as a rule if you cart to a pit mangolds 

 or any root that you are going to use for cattle, you 

 would not, of course, cart your turnips, because you 

 would probably feed them off with your sheep? No, 

 we do not in our district at all. There is very little of 

 that done in Cleveland. 



5076. You first cart the whole of your roots to a pit, 

 and re-cart them into a shed where the cattle are? 

 Not absolutely the whole. You would fill your turnip 

 house at the beginning of the season, and the rest 

 would go to the pit to be re-carted again into the 

 turnip house. 



5077. One is anxious not to get exaggerated figuns ; 

 and I should have thought when you were carting 

 your roots to the field the first thing you would do 

 would be, as you say, to fill up your root house, and 

 you would put the other roots in close proximity to 

 your root house so that it would be a very simple 

 matter. I mean the man with the odd horse and the 

 odd cart would keep your root house going, and that 

 would not cost anything like as much as the whole 

 thing getting from the field ?--That is what we do. A 

 man with the odd horse and cart carts them in. 



5078. Under those circumstances you might cut down 

 that last item of 1 easily by half?- -I do not know. 

 You do not get very much work done for 1 nowadays 



5079. Just a word or two with regard to milk. I do 

 not want to ask questions that do not come within our 

 limits ; but I would like to know from you definitely 

 whether you would be opposed to any State contro 

 of milk-selling or production? - Ye.s ; I think it is in 

 the national interest that we should have a free 

 market. 



5080. Do you think if there were a Tree market for 

 milk to-day that the price would be higher or lower 

 than it is at this moment? It is possible that for a 



. short time it might be higher ; but I think that the 

 supply would increase and would eventually bring 

 down prices. 



5081. You complained just now that very short 

 notice was given by the Ministry of Food of the change 

 of price? That is so. 



5082. You are aware, surely, that that 4d., which was 

 put on in June, was a sum given to the farmer to make 

 up for the loss sustained owing to the drought? That 

 is so; but the drought was more acute in August than 

 in July. 



508.'! Yes. hut T want this made clear. It was 

 est mated that 2d. for two months would probably 

 meet the matter, but it was easier in the interests of 

 administration to have 4d. for one month, because any 

 sum less than 4d. over a gallon makes it difficult to 

 divide when you get down to pints and half-pints, and 

 so on? I see. It would have been better if that had 

 been explained at the time. It caused great dissatis- 

 faction amongst the producers when the price came 

 down in August. 



"il'-t. When a witness of your standing comes here. 

 T do not want you to be under any misapprehension. 

 You complained that yon were not allowed to be paid 

 for taking your milk seven miles. How far from the 

 nearest station are you? A mile. 



50R5. If you studied the Milk Order. I think you 

 would find that any distance you carted your milk 

 over that mile you would be allowed to charge for? 

 The Order says distinctly not; that the price is fixed 

 at the seller's station or the buyer's premises. 



5086. I think you will find that what you would 

 ! entitled to make some charge for, would be the 

 extra distance beyond the distance to your station? 

 We have written the Ministry of Food repeatedly on 

 that point, and they will not allow it. 



^fr. Anker f^iminons: I know it used to be allowed. 



5087. Mr. Overman : How many acres of land do 

 you farm? 380. 



6083. Are you a tenant fanner? Yes. 

 5089. You have told Mr. Anker Simmons thai these 

 are estimates; but I take it the yields of four quarters 



