KOYAI. . ..\IMIsSI.-.N ,,\ Ai.KH I'LTUHE. 



A*g**, llM'.i.; 



MB. P. W. 



[Conlinutd. 



0961. I wanted to ask yon aim about the straw, 

 which I was not quite clear about. I understood the 

 restrict.sd price lor ittraw was 3 IS. ? Was that 

 at the latter end of the year!' 



6052. Yea? After the turn of th.- year I bought. 

 I think it wag, 6 or 8 tons, and I hud to pay 85s. 

 for it then. 



8963. That was the thing that puntled me. If the 

 restricted price was '_:< I ".- . who was to blame for 

 (barging you i'4 5s. ? I do not know. 



i .!'"> I. />/-. /><>i/i/'i- : Dealers' profit* are allowed? 

 I bought 8 tons, I believe, after Christ nine 



8966. Air. Parkn : And it was not produced verv 

 near to you? No. 



6966. Mr. Smith : Could you Ml us what price you 

 are getting for your milk to-day? IB. 8d. \Ve 

 generally calculate by the down quarts in Cheshire. 



Rave you any figures worked up how mu'-li 

 the cost of production has increased in dairy farm- 

 ing? I do not know whether it will answer your 

 question, but I hare some figures here. Some gentle- 

 man asked about it earlier on. These are the pri'-c* 

 in 191.V I got lOd. per gallon for my milk in the 

 summer. I have not the figure for the winter at 

 that period. Dairy meal was 6 7s. 6d. Decorti- 

 cated cotton, 9; Indian meal, 10 guineas; and 

 linseed, 10 7s. 6d. It averaged 9 IB. 3d. per ton. 

 Sow in 191!) the price for the summer works out at 

 Is. 7d. per gallon. I must include in that one-half- 

 penny for carriage. We did not get the carriage in 

 I'.'l'i. The price of cake to-day is: dairy meal. 20; 

 decorticated cotton cake, . 25 10s. ; Indian meal, 

 25 10s.. and linseed 27. JW the lot. The average 

 is 24 10s. to-day. The increase in corn and cake 

 is about 170 per cent. Labour has gone up from 25s. 

 to about .Vis., with overtime; and rates are up another 

 Is. in the from last year; so that you see milk 

 did not increase 100 per cent., bnt corn and cake 

 have gone up 170 per cent., and labour over 100 

 per cent. 



6958. Of ourse, that would not cover all your 

 costs: they would only bo part of the costs? These 

 have lieen only part of the costs. I have been very 

 rushed for time, and it is a terrible thing getting 

 these statistics out for milk. 



You speak of tho desirability of labour not 

 being disturbed so much from the point of view of 

 the farmer. Do not you think it desirable for 

 you to lie able to retain the best labour as far as 

 possible ! J Ye. 



6960. Do you think you will be able to do that 

 unlew the labour condition* are sufficiently attractive 

 from the point of view of hours aa well as. wages? 

 This being a new phase and something we hare not 

 been accustomed to. we cannot yet fall in with it. 

 The greatest objection I havo to this labour busineM 

 has lii-oii this stopping at noon on a Sat unlay, and, of 

 coiirs... e have not observed it, as it is very nearly 

 unworkable on our farms. .-.(.., i.,ll\ on isolated farms. 

 What are the youths to <|i> on a Saturday till milking 

 at night? If they h.m- to hang about they are i 

 working, and if they go away, tin-re i* no Ml ing 

 whether they will come back; they are several miles 

 away from the town. The majority of us on the 

 dairy farms run on to I o'clock ano! pay them over 

 time for it. It is a very great question, and I have 

 never been in favour of this noon on Saturday. My 

 men are quite willing to go on till -1 o'clock, nnd 1 

 have put it to them l>otli wavs. 



6961. But do not you think there will IM> n ten- 

 dency for the young men, especially those who have 

 taken part in the war and have associated with men 

 from towns, to desire a week-end, and if in the 



or in the large centres close by they are working a 

 48-hour week and having a <-Ienr week-end, that rnnv 

 lie a temptation for them to leave the count' 

 and go to the town? I quite agree. 



6962. Do you also agree that the men who have 

 the tendency to go are generally the tetter workmen ; 

 that is. the men with morn initiative in them? As a 

 rule, if a man takes to his work on the farm, he 

 would not shift unless he has good reasons for shift- 

 ing. Does that answer your question? 



6i)63. I am just wondering whether it is vour ex- 

 perience and your opinion that the man who would 

 shift because lie was dissatisfied or because he thought 

 he would get something better, on the average ' e th 

 better type of workman. It would not be gord for 

 the industry to be left with the inferior type and nil 

 the best go? I do not think that in many cases the 

 lietter class of man would leave the countryside if 

 he was getting a wage, we will say. equal to tho 

 town wage, which although it might 'be a shilling or 

 two less reckoned in the main would be as good, for 

 ihe snke of having 1m week-end out. I do not think 

 In- would leave the country for the town for that 

 reason, because the conditions are much healthier in 

 the country than in the town. 



nOfil Do you think that would applv to the young 

 man ? The younger man is not a.s reliable : you cannot 

 vouch for Rim. 



Tlif Chairman : Wo are very much obliged to yon. 



(The Witnem left the chair.) 



Mr .1 . SMH.F.H. S,K retary. Cheshire Chamber of Agriculture, and Cheshire Milk Producers' 

 Association, called and examined. 



6965. The Chairman: May we put in the print of 

 the opinions which you desire to put before us without 

 reading it? Yea. 



[Evidtnee-in-chirf handrd in by the Witntu.] 

 I desire to put before the Commission the opinion 

 of the two bodies I represent on two matters only 



ill Thr If'iiii.i <if J.nliinii i>n Farm*. 

 I would lay down it general principle that tin 

 ordinary hours of labour in any industry should be 

 regulated by the conditions controlling that particular 

 industry and any departure from or modification of 

 Mich principle would IK- injurious to the industry ami 

 all those dependent upon it. 



The county of Cheshire is largely devoted to dairv 

 farming, of which the hours of milking form an intc 

 gril part. An hc secretion of milk by the cow is 

 controlled absolutely by nature and is unalterable, 

 it follows that the intervals between the milkings 

 on each and every day should be as nearly equal as 

 possible and ny serious departure from such equal 

 m' rvals between the two daily milkings being against 

 nature produces ill results winch m.iy lie Mimniarised 

 as follows : 



<") The butter fat content of the milk produced 

 after the longer interval is decreased, while 

 the butter fat n-nti-nt of the milk produced 

 aftor the shorter period in increased, causing 

 grave risk of prosecution to the producer 



(b) In the full flush of the milking season con- 

 siderable inconvenience and discomfort is 

 caused to the cow. 



i' l This has a distinct tendency to reduce tho 

 quantity of milk secreted and thus reduce the 

 total output of milk in the country. 

 <<l) As the whole community is closely interested 

 in the quantity and quality of milk produced, 

 unequal interval-- ot milking are an injury 

 to the nation by reducing the one and causing 

 variations in the other. 



I consider that 5S hours per week (exclusive of 

 Sundays) is the minimum below which the hours of 

 men employed on dairy farms ought not to go. This 

 would inve III hours working time tor ." days and 8 on 

 Saturday, which would make the intervals between 

 milkings 10 and 14 hours which is in my opinion the 

 irreducible minimum. 



These hours run be secured in one of two ways. 

 i) Ily fixing the W hours as the ordinary hours 

 for dairy farms, and leaving Sundays only 

 to be reckoned as overtime, or 

 (6) Shorter ordinary hours with overtime to cover 



the milking each day. 



The former proposition is far the best and would 

 not put an undue strain on any employ 



The danger of the second alternative would be that 

 the overtime would be considered as not obligatory 



