MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



95 



3 September, 1919.] 



SIR RICHARD WINFREY, M.P. 



[Continued. 



8029. That is only an estimate by looking at it? 

 It is an estimate by looking at the stack; it has not 

 ieen sold. 



8030. A considerable error may arise by estimating 

 from mere appearance a stack of this year's hay? I 

 find these men know pretty accurately what they 

 have got. 



8031. I suppose you will agree that very great over 

 estimates have sometimes been formed even by skilled 

 men of the amount of hay they have had for dis- 

 posal during the last few years? Yes. 



8032. That has been the experience of the Forage 

 Committee, has it not? I daresay, but this man is 

 an extremely careful man, one of the most caroful 

 men I know, and I do not think he would exaggerate. 



8033. In the case of wheat following seeds how long 

 do you suppose these seeds have been down? Now 

 you are going on to Norfolk. 



8034. Yes? That of course is a four course system. 

 The seeds are sown with the barley and then they are 

 mown the next year; that is the system in Norfolk. 



8035. So that some part of the seeds cropped would 

 really fall to be debited against that year of wheat, 

 would it not? I do not follow that. 



8036. There would be a considerable residue from 

 the seeds that have been down one year, would there 

 not? Yes. 



8037. Mr. Eea: You say you have 2,266 acres 

 divided among 290 tenants? Yes. 



8038. That is an average of about 7J per man? 

 Yes. 



8039. Do they devote themselves entirely to this 

 work? You must not take the average like that 

 because on each farm we have let some land in allot- 

 ments of 1 acre, 2 acres and 3 acres, to people who are 

 residing in the neighbourhood. The resident tenants 

 have ranged from 20 to 30 acrea, those for whom we 

 have houses. 



8040. These other allotment holders follow other 

 occupations? They do. 



8041. Are they included in the 39 families that I 

 think you said were in these holdings? No, in that 

 3U families on the Crown farm the Crown have built 

 us houses for every one of them. We have 39 houses 

 now upon the estate. 



8042. Independent of the allotment holders houses? 

 Yes, quite independent of them. 



8043. What is the highest rent per acre-? The 

 average rent works out to 43s. an acre? The highest 

 rent for some of the grass land goes up to about 50s. 

 and the lowest rent we vary the rents according to 

 the quality of the land goes down as low as 1 and 

 25s. 



8044. Do the allotment holders, whose land I sup- 

 pose is really held for accommodation land, pay 50s., 

 the maximum? Yes, we make no difference in their 

 case. 



8045. These men who do carry on farming as their 

 sole occupation assist each other on the different hold- 

 ings ? They do. 



8046. Have they any system of co-operation by way 

 of purchasing implements and machinery, and so on? 

 Not for the purchase of implements and machinery, 

 but on this Wingland estate we have a co-operative 

 trading society which I started ten years ago, and 

 this co-operative trading society buys and sells for 

 them manure* and cotton cakes, and so on. We also 

 have a mill for grinding their corn, and there we 

 grow a considerable amount of fruit in addition. \Ve 

 have now more than 100 acres under fruit on the 

 farm, and this trading society deals with all the fruit 

 nnd sends it to the co-operative wholesale society. 



8047. Of course each man will not have work for a 

 pair of horses? No. Of course those that have not 

 got horses get their horses from their neighbours at 

 a certain charge. 



3. Can they get them when they want them? 

 May not they have their land ready for sowing and 

 not have horses to carry out the operation? They 

 do get them, but there is no doubt the man who hns 

 his own horseflesh (!omes off best, he hns the command 

 of them first, but he turns round and helps his neigh- 

 n'l tlnT- is no practical difficulty about it. 



9, They work it out amongst themselves? They 

 do. 



2."32!l 



8050. In paragraph (6), with reference to wheat 

 after potatoes, 1 see you put down two weedings. Is 

 that customary after potatoes ? Good farmers do that. 



8051. You put the cost of both weedings at the same 

 price. I should have thought that in the case of the 

 second weeding there would not be so much to do, and 

 that the cost therefore would not be so high? It only 

 means a day's work. 



8052. Still it amounts to 7s. an acre? Yes. 



8053. The two could not be of equal value. How do 

 they manage the reaping and tying of their corn? 

 Do they do it by manual labour mostly? No, many 

 of them have self-binders now. I am sorry I did not 

 get out the number of implements like we did with 

 regard to the live stock. We have at least ten or a 

 dozen self-binders. One man will invest in a self- 

 binder and let it out to his friends. 



8054. You have put two separate items, reaping 

 7s. 6d. and tying 15s. ? Yes, this particular man has 

 not a self-binder. 



8055. He does it with a manual reaper? Yes. 



8056. In paragraph (8), with regard to Norfolk, 

 in the estimate of production of wheat you have got 

 down 4 cwt. of basic slag, 1 cwt. of ammonia, and 

 spreading 14s.? Yes. 



8057. That, surely, must be an error? Four cwt. of 

 basic slag would cost at least 16s., and 1 cwt. of 

 sulphate of ammonia 15s., and the spreading would be 

 over and above that? I am not quite sure whether 

 the word "or" should not be in there. I have not 

 got my original notes here. 



8058. You mean it is an alternative, 4 cwt. of basic 

 slag or 1 cwt. of sulphate of ammonia? Yes, I think 

 that is it, but, as I say, I have not got my original 

 notes here. 



8059. In any case, the cost of that is rather low? 

 I think that is the explanation of it. 



8060.t In the barley crop in that same rotation you 

 have taken in 1913, which was a very dry year, 4J 

 quarters at 29s. a quarter, 6 10s. 6d., less cost 

 5 7s. 6d., leaving a profit of 1 3s.; and in 1919 you 

 have taken the yield at 5Jr quarters at 70s. a quarter, 

 19 5s., less cost 12 5s. 3d., leaving a profit of 

 6 19s. 6d., and you deduct from that that the prices 

 of the produce have more than counterbalanced the 

 increased cost of production? Yes, that is so. 



8061. Do you think that it is fair to add on a 

 quarter in 1919 and charge 3 10s. for it? These 

 are the actual figures that this Swaffham smallholder 

 gave me, and I took them down naturally without 

 any addition or subtraction. He considers he has 

 got 5J quarters this year, and he only had 4J quarters 

 in 1913. 



8062. Do you think that is fair? That is for the 

 Commission to decide ; if they like to take one quarter 

 off they will do so. 



8063. What is the normal or average yield do you 

 know? Of barley? 



8064. Yes? I think this is quite a low yield for Nor- 

 folk ; this is very light land indeed which cost us less 

 than 20 an acre. 



8065. On this particular land would you take 4J or 

 5 or 5J quarters as an average crop? I take 5 as an 

 average that is the average of these two years. 



8066. I submit to you that would be a fairer way to 

 get at the difference of cost? You would put five 

 quarters for 1913 and five quarters for 1919. 



8067. Yes, that seems to be a fairer way to get at 

 the difference? Yes. 



8068. Are most of these figures estimated or actual 

 yields ? These are actual vields. 



8069. The mangolds in 1919 will not be lifted yet? 

 No ; that of course is an estimate. 



8070. Is 15 tons about a fair average crop? It is 

 for this land. 



8071. You state that the land has increased in value 

 from 30 per cent, to 100 per cent".? It has. 



8072. Is that in rentals? Both in rentals and in 

 sales. 



8073. Do you mean that landlords have actually 

 increased the rents to sitting tenants? I will give 

 you a case of a farm in Fleet near Holbeach of 174 

 acres. The farmer has a lease for 14 years which 

 expired in 1908 at 420 a year. The farmer was then 

 granted a new lease for 7 years at .560 a year. That 

 lease expired in 1915 during the war. He was then 



t See Appendix No. IV. 



