ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURE. 



S Sfp4fmbr, 1919.] 



MR. CASTELL WHEY. 



[r . ,,1,,1'inl. 



7739. May I refer to your book which is of very 

 recent date. You mention that a 12 ft. binder with 

 fire hones and one man will cut 13J acres per day ; 

 an 8 ft. binder with four horses and one man will 

 out 8 8-9ths acres per day, and that a 4 ft. 6 binder 

 with three horses and one man will cut 5 acres per 

 day f What page is that on? 



7730. Page 40. Those figures do not seem to tally 

 with your figure in Table 1 (a) that you can cut 

 90 acres per -day with one man and three horses? 

 If you look about 8 lines up from the bottom of tho 

 page I say, " For example, say the ordinary binder 

 cuta five acres." I am only taking five acres as an 

 example ; I do not say it only cuts five acres ; it cuts 

 a good deal more. 



7731. How many acres might it cut? I should think 

 7} acres, or something like that would be a fair thing. 



7733. Would you be surprised to know that in 

 Scotland it is the usual thing to cut 10 acres in a 

 day? What sized binder? 



7733. With a 4 ft 6 binder 'Perhaps they work 

 harder than our farm labourers do. 



7734. Have you ever been to Scotland to see the 

 farm work that is done there? No I have only been 

 once, and my experience then was only of a very small 

 district. 



7735. What I want to get at <is how you could cut 

 10 acres in half a day with one man and three horses? 

 I said a 6 ft. binder ; it may have been an 8 ft. 

 binder; I cannot tell. If it was an 8 ft. binder it 

 would be perfectly easy to do it. 



7736. Would an 8 ft. binder not require four 

 horses ? Yes, it would. 



7737. If you look at Table 1 (b) you will see that 

 you are cutting with a binder there with two men 

 at the rate of 9s. Id. each per day and six horses at 

 the rate of 6s. each a day, total 2 14s. 2<1. 

 per day. Is there any special reason why that 

 should be so heavy compared with Table 1 (a)? Very 

 possibly we had wet weather or wet ground to work 

 on, and they would naturally go slower if that was 

 so or there might have been a break down. 



7738. It is the same month and the same year, I 

 think ? It would be the same year anyhow yes, I see 

 it is the same month and the same day, too. 



7739. They had not been working so well? Very 

 possibly, but I cannot answer these details at this dis- 

 tance of time ; it is quite impossible on a large farm 

 like that. These figures are given me by the foreman 

 for each farm of what happens during the day. 



7740. Look at Table 1 (g) with reference to su . 

 The cost of your singling swedes comes to 63s. 9d., 

 which is equal to about 7s. per acre. Oan you get 

 it done at that? I have not worked it out, but I 

 take it for granted that that is right. 



7741. I have worked it out and that is right. It 

 Menu a small sum, does it not? Yes, veiy. 



77 TJ Would 30s. an acre not be nearer the mark? 

 Yea, on an ordinary crop, but this was a practical 

 failure as you can see. We only kept 108 sheep on 

 the nine acres for a week. That was the whole crop, 

 o that it would not require very much singling. 



7743. Look at the profit and loss accounts at tlir 

 item* under the heading of " Expenditure on 

 Implement*." You seem to have spent a big lot of 

 money on implements particularly last year. In the 

 year 1918-19 the expenditure is 1,375 5s. lid.? Yes. 



7744. Did you buy a big lot of machinery in the 

 year ending 1918-19? Yes, I bought a traction 

 engine, but I maintain these items ought to be in 

 capital, and my profits ought to be increased by that 

 mount. 



7745. On the credit side in each account you have 

 coiuiderable sums for hiro of II..IM s . ta< kle, Ac __ Yes. 



7746. In the year 1911 the amount is 1132 17s. 3d.? 



Y. 



7747. What work did you hire those horses for? 

 General estate work; it would b hauling timber -.r 

 bricks. 



7748. That is charged against tho estate? Yes. we 



the estate with it. 



. 



Do v..ii think that enable* you to get more 

 value out of your hnnwn than an ordinary farmer 

 would bo able to do? Yes, certainly, 



7750. Can you tell me on how many days per year 

 you calculate one of your horses would be working?- 

 I have asked several of the carters, and the average 

 they give me is that a horse stands off for ten days 

 in the year, and, of course, for the 52 Sundays. 

 Some of them varied ; some of them were off for six 

 and others fifteen days, but I think six is too low. 



7751. You will not have made any allowance for 

 frost or snow in that case? In that sort of weather 

 it is possible to get the horses out and put them on to 

 hauling timber. 



7752. If the horses have no holidays do not tho 

 men have holidays? Yes. 



7753. Are the horses worked on those occasions by 

 men other than the regular men? Yed; for example'. 

 there are usually a couple of girls doing chain harrow- 

 ing. 



7754. You do not give the horses much holiday? 

 No. 



7755. Will you look at the item with regard to 

 insurance for 1918-19: the amount you expended 

 in insurance is 125 11s. lid.? Yes. 



7756. How many employees have you, roughly? 

 Between 60 and 60 now. 



7757. Does that cover all the risks that you insure 

 your men against do you insure them against acci- 

 dent? Yes. 



7758. Have you any third party risk insurances? 

 I do not think we have on the farm. 



7759. Have you insurances for the engine and fire 

 insurance? Yes. 



7760. Yet it does not come to anything more than 

 123 11s. lid.? No. 



7761. On what basis do you insure your dead stock 

 your crops? I am afraid I cannot tell you off-hand. 

 I know we have increased them considerably the 

 last few years since corn has been so valuable, 



7762. You do not know \\ bother you insure thorn 

 only up to three-fourths in order to get the benefit 

 of the average and put your crops in different parts 

 of the farm so that they will not all bo burnt at 

 one time if there should happen to be a fire? On 

 a very large farm like this they are naturally all 

 distributed. 



7763. You realise., of course, the benefit that is to be 

 got by putting these in as one farm from tho point 

 of view of fire insurance? Yes, we do. 



7764. Now will you look at the valuation foos 

 charged in tho account for tin- year to 6th April, 

 1918. It was 40. In the year 'ending 6th April, 



1917, it was 138 12s. ? Yes. 



77i;.">. Is that an accumulation of years? Is there 

 anything preceding 1917? 



7766. I do not see anything in 1916? Then it 

 would be an accumulated account. It would be 

 simply a valuation of the stock at Lady Day a* 

 there were possibly no outgoing tenants. 



7767. Ixxik at the summary of valuation dealing 

 ith horses in 1919. I make it that at the 6th April, 



1918, you h;id 67 horsos in hand of a value of 3,812? 

 Yes. 



7768. During the year up to the 6th April, 1919, 

 you bought no horses? No. 



7769. But on tho other hand you sold horses to 

 the value of 95 15s.? Yes. 



7770. Have you any idea of how many that might 

 be? Two one for 90 and the other for 5. 



7771. That would make 65 horses standing at 

 3,716 5s.? Yes. 



7772. You havo this year 68 horses that is 

 three more and those three horses have to account 

 for i'.'iso of increase without taking any depreciation 

 into consideration? Would that not come in in 

 breeding? 



7773. No, you have tho same horsos in this case. 

 You start with 67 and you only sold two? I may 

 have brought in three. 



7774. Yes, but those three have to account for 

 a difference of 380 a* well as for any depreciation 

 you have written off the 65? The valuation has 

 risen from 66 17s. up to 60 4s. a head so that 

 that would account for some of it. 



7776. You have put them up although tho horses 

 are getting older? The young horses are getting 

 more valuable. 



