n 



. 1919.] 



ROYAI. roMMi i \c;i;n ri.rruK. 



Porsot R. O. WHITI. 



[CoHlillllfll. 



the safest. Our authorities want to be sure that the 



Ms dii not ut any rate oxriM.it.. tin- race, ami 

 .ire- certainly absolutely safe in adopting the- 

 policy we have taken. 



9881. I agree it is a very safe policy. The point 

 is a* to whether or not it is ion. c-t only to value 

 your tock at the same figure. xxhiNt you know that 

 their nctual value by virtue of the cost of the fodder 

 which they are consuming must make them worth m.ue 

 and keep them worth more xvhilst the cost of the 

 produce keeps up? There is always this to be taken 

 into account, that every year a good proportion of 

 the stock is sold and you reap the benefit of the 

 increased costs of your feeding stuffs in that way. 

 1 think it is about as broad as it is long. 



9883. You do not represent the full value nnd the 

 increased value of your feeding stuffs xvhilst the value 

 of your stock keeps doxvn to the pre-war level? At 

 any rate it is quite easily possible, if you understand 

 the system of valuation, to make the adjustment 

 yourselves. 



9883. What I would suggest to you is that if there 

 were not. if not the full market value, what one might 

 term a reasonable value placed upon the present stock, 

 this farm might show a reasonable profit? Quito 

 possibly. 



: Do you not think that the experimental .side 

 of the farni would cost more than you get in the 

 way of grants? I have indicated that I think it 

 probably does; but it is difficult to assess the cost 

 of experimental work, and as well as one can say 

 it is not far off the mark. I do not think the 

 excess cost is very great. 



988Ti. Have you formed any ideas or opinions as to 

 what is necessary in regard to the future of farming 

 in this country in the way of a policy or anything of 

 that sort? I have not really come here to go into 

 that; and unless there is any definite question on 

 which my opinion might be of advantage to the Com- 

 mission. I would rather not go into it. 



9886. I do not want to press you on that point. In 

 the working of the farm have you formed any opinion 

 as to how farming might be helped by improved 

 facilities in any way, say, of transport or things of 

 that description ? Our own farm is so favourably 

 situate! on a main road and close to a station, that, 



ursc. the lack of transport does not affect us 

 diivctly 



9887. Therefore, you express no opinion on the 

 general position ?- 



9888. Mr. Holbins: To what extent would you say 

 that this farm is typical of other commercial farms in 

 the neighbourhood? I should say it is very typical 

 of similar farms in hill districts. We have both low 



id and enclosed hill ground, and then a big run 

 for sheep on the open mountain. 



9889. Are the sales in pedigree stock included in 

 these accounts? Yes, all of them. 



9890. Therefore, the accoiinU would benefit by the 

 low valuation when sales take place? Exactly. 



9891. It is as broad as it is long, on whatever basis 

 you take a valuation, so long as yo.i maintain an even 

 bai? Yes, that is so. 



9892. Mr. I'nrkrr: How much of your farm is under 

 the plough, that i, arable land? About 100 acres 

 during the last two or three years. Last year we had 

 190 acre*. 



9898. What is that under wheat? No. we worn 

 on n rotation. The land is ploughed out of grass, 

 v. take a crop of oats, on part of it a see-on. I corn 

 r.ip. then root*, oats, and then it is seeded down 

 again. We grow very little wheat. Oats are our 

 ttaple corn ct 



9694. Do JOU keep any costing accounts? No. I am 

 sorry to ay we do not. 



9896. Then you cannot tell us what is the cost of 

 the production of an acre of wheat? It would be 

 merely an estimate, if I did It would not be based 

 on proper costing accounts 



9896. You ! up tc, 1912. and then came 



the tarn of the tide?' Yes. 



9897. The following year slums a profit. Is that 

 the general experience in \Vales, do you know '?- I do 

 not think ao. 



9898. Or waa it your initial expenditure h.mdi- 

 capping you? Very largely the initial exjiemlituie 

 i. -Miking from the change ol farms. 



9899. Mi .\nhi-ll>: I- it h. Mud- A part 

 of tile low ground that we cultr. ether wet 

 heavy clay. J would say about half of it. or perhaps 

 a thi'rd ol" it is The rest is a medium l...nn. .-hanging 

 in places to a gravelly I- 



9900. Is it txio horse or three hois.-.- It is all two 

 horse land; but .-ome ol it i> heavy two h.nse land. 

 We xery .seleloiu do so, but we put three- horses in the 

 plough occasionally. 



9901. But it is mostly a grass farm? Only nbc ut 

 a third of it as a rule is under the plough. 



9902. About 67~i acre- altogether, is it not:- When 

 1 said about a third of it under the plough, I n- 

 lerred to the low ground, that is, the cultivable 

 ground. 400 acres out of the 67" losed hill 

 grazing, rough and hilly and unsuitable for plough- 

 ing. 



9903. And the rent is 62!); that is about tl an 

 'I'll. i-,.|it is shown in paragraph (6) of tlie 



i,'. 



9904. That is less than 1 an acre', taking it as a 

 whole ?-*-Yes. You will see there is a big difference. 

 The rough grazing is assessed at 6s. an acre, and the 

 low ground at .'fc!i>. 6d. That is as near as I can say. 



9905. What number of pupils do you have on an 

 average? During the last two years we have not 

 had any. I'revious to that it would average about 



lii tin- session which is just starting, we shall 

 have a great many more. 



9906. Are they young men who oome with scholar- 

 ships, farmers' sons, or what type of men are they r- 

 Mostly farmers' sons. That is the class we aim at 

 getting hold of. 



9907. And they pay fees, I suppose? A great 

 many of them hold scholarships from the County 

 Councils which cover the fees. Of course, they do 

 not cover the xvhole of the expense. 



9908. Do they work as ordinary xvorkers when they 

 come to the farm? Practically not at all. We want 

 t . t.'acli them something they cannot learn at home. 



9909. How many workpeople have you on the 

 farm? It has varied very much the last year or txvo. 

 At the present time we have about ton men and two 

 or three women. 



9910. Mr. Lennard: Is it your experience in the past 

 that your pupils go back to their fathers' fa' 



The- majority of our students have done-. 



0911. Have you noticed any sensible improvement 

 in agriculture "following this education ?- It is always 

 very difficult to measuie the eil'ec-t of educational 

 work, but I think we may say that tli'Te has b, en an 

 improvement. 



9912. Do they come- mostly from your own locality 

 01 from other localities- Mostly from North Wales. 



iiOlM. Would they be mostly from farms of a similar 

 character to your own hill farm? They vary xery 

 much; but I think we may say very similar farms 

 though much smaller farms as a rule'. Ours is a large 

 faun for North Wales. 



I. Do you find that old pupils come, liac-k fe>r 

 advice after they haxe srt up farming for tlie-m- 

 solves? Yea, I may say they keep in pretty close 

 t.n.ch with us. 



!Hil. r >. Do you do much research work on the farm 1 ' 



A certain amount : but not nearly so much as we 

 'hould like' to elo. and not so much as we' hope to do. 

 Our staff up to the. present ha been very limited, 

 and they hav" been fully o.-e-npi'-d in teaching, 

 "ising. and that kind of thing. Hut now we 

 have enlarged our staff very considerably, and xve 

 hope to do much more research work. 



Wlf'i. Do you do anything to assist farmers in tin' 

 neighliourhood in the way of s iil analysis nnd 

 manures? Yes. 



9917. Do you find that they are -citing more ready 



t i take advice on those line* P Undoubtedly , and I 

 think particularly so since the' outbreak eif war. 



