50 



ItoY.M. I'l 



N ..X Ai.liKTI.TI KK. 



17 S,pl*ml*r, 1919.] 



MB. H. ARMOI-K and MX. G. O. MERCER. 



[Continvtd. 



farm? I cannot work it out. but I will tell you where 

 .n got il. Take Tnt>l<- 1. including horse labour. 



10,443. Taking 1919, we get " Wages as al.m.-. 

 t'4 16." There is one question I wish to ask y..ii 

 about wagM. I asked you aliout your horneti. I 

 niiileisi.ind you take the cost of the whole of tlm 

 wages of the farm! 1 I do. 



Kl.441. And lor ItU'.l the figure*, 1 gath.-i 

 partlv e.slimate<l. You |>ut <lo\m the same figur. 

 1918 and add 10 per cent., anil then another 10 per 

 cent.? \'t. 



10,44.'). Do those include the whole wages of every- 

 body on the farm?- 



10.446. Stockmen as well a-s ploughmen:' They do 

 not include the cattle men. I had none last year. 



10.447. Then they do not include the whole of tin- 

 wage* on the farm? All the wages of nil the men who 

 ure there are included. 



10,44*. Hut are they doing any work except what 

 ii done on the tillage' land No. they are all work- 

 ing on the farm. These are the wages that are paid 

 out for men working on the farm. 



10.449. Were some of the wages earned on t Ill- 

 permanent grass? The grass land is so very small 

 here. 



10.450. So small that it makes uo matter? It 

 makes no difference. 



10.451. That is to say, all the work they would do 

 on the grass land would be mending the fences, and 

 that sort of thing? That is nil. 



10,4-VJ. So we might disregard it and put it nil 

 down to the cost of the tillages-Yes, that ^ the way 

 1 have treated it. 



111. l.".;t. So you divide that up by the number cf 

 acres of tillage, and you bring out L'l 16s. Od. as the 

 labour cost of growing an acre of wheat? Yes. 



10,4.54. And that 4 16s. Od., whether it is wheat 

 or barley, is the same? Yes, it is the same in the 

 wages, because I have spread it across the whole. 



1(1. 1-V>. Although the wheat might take more cleati- 

 Tho wheat in Scotland never takes any 



cleaning. 



10,4-%. Not weeding? No, it practically costs the 

 name as an oat crop or a barley crop to put in. 



10. 1.". And after it is put in you do nothing to 

 it? We do nothing except a top dressing with some 

 artificial manure, and then reap it in the same way. 



10,4-V 4 . Then there is no other labour? No. 



10,4- r >!. According to you, 4 16s. Od. for 1916 is the 

 labour cost for growing wheat per acre? Yes. 



10,460. Then taking Table No. '2. where you get to 

 the, summary, you start with 11 16s. Id. in which is 

 included the labour cost of 4 16s. Od., and you add 

 for dung exhaustion 2 10s. Od., for artificial manures 

 1 10s. Od. ; that is the dressing you speak of ? Yes. 



1" I'll. Then seed, binder twine, threshing, fuel. 

 twine, <vo.. bringing out a total cost of 18 17s. 6d.? 

 Yes. 



In. ILL' There would be no labour in any of those 

 items? The threshing, etc., is ell in the labour. 



In.Hi.i It is all in the 4 16s. Od. The threshing 

 and getting the corn to the market is all in that? 



10.464. So that if your 1H 17. fid. is 'correct, I. us 

 the il 7*. 6d. as credit for straw, bringing it to 

 14 lOs. Od., the whole of the labour costs of the 



C-l 16s. Od.? Yen. 



10.465. We can work out the percentage of that. 

 ' -.'in tell me how you arrived at the credit for 

 fttraw. tl 7s. (id.? You will see it down here if you 

 look at the note. Tln-ic is :V> cwts. per acre of wheat 

 ttraw. 



10.468. And that is about the usual thing?- > 

 I to>il< it as a kind of average. 



10. |li7. HUM .! ton arrive at the price of it? That 

 i. about the pn> it di-i ended to when the (iovern- 

 mi-lit stopped as bn 



I'l |r. In threshing you only charge for fuel and 

 machinery, 10. a quarter it iiP 10s. an acre. 



10.469. Is that what you pay for it? That is wh.it 



1 consider the inst ,.i it for the material only. There 



is the us.- <>t tl ngine. the fuel, and the wear 



and tear of the thiesl,, 



10,1,'n. !>,, you hire il- No. it is my own 



r): It .MIII had ti) hire the machinery just now 

 it would need to be a good deal higher. It wants 

 17s. (id. nn acre just now if you have to hire your 

 machine. 



Ml. 471. Is the Ids. you put then- simply u fair 

 estimate nt the cost, including something for 

 and tear of your own machinery? (Mr. .1 ; in/nii) : 

 ~\ H, I think it is a fair estimate. 



10.472. I take it that the ordinary farmer does 

 what we do down here, that is hire a threshing 

 machine:' It would lie fully mure it you hired it. 

 1'ir-aiis,. the hiring man has to get a profit. 



10.473. Mr. Mercer has just said L7. Bd.f I think 

 he would be about right. 



10.474. Your Chamber has come to the conclusion 

 that you IIIIIM have a guarantee of cereal prices; 

 otherwise, the land will go hack to grass;- V,.s. that 

 is our opinion. 



10,47.".. Mr. Duncan pointed out that you were 

 already paying 14s. wages, although the guaranteed 

 minimum is 36s.?- \ 



10,476. Under the (V>rn Production Act the guar- 

 anteed price is 55s. and next year 4-~>s.:- 1 do nut 

 think under the Oorn Production Act it is .. I 



think that is the Government guarantee. I think 

 under the Corn Production Act it is about 30s. 



l(t, 477. 1 am taking the wheat: Wheat at .Vis.. 

 and oats 3:>s.. and next year it is 4-5s. for wheat 

 and 24. for oats; but the prices you are obtaining 

 a iv fixed under the Defence of the Healm Act. and 

 you get the same prices. 7.">s. Od. I' Yes. 



10.475. Does the 75s. (id. enable you to pay the 

 | u-sent rate of wages and make a reasonable pro'fitr 



I ( does. 



10.470. You said in answer to Mr. Duncan that 

 with the increase in price caused by the war and the 

 fixing of this, you were prevented from getting higher 

 prjOM and enjoying the advantage of the world's 

 prices; but even with the limitation of price fixed 

 under the Defence of the Healm Act. the farmer in 

 Sootlnd is doing reasonably well, is he not - 



1 agree. 



10.480. 1 understood you to .say that in your view 

 the farm worker is sharing in that prosperity by 

 fitting 44s. instead of 36s. guarantee:' I think so. 



10.481. Do I understand you are afraid that when 

 the war ends and commerce resumes its normal course 

 ii lid shipping gets on the sea, prices will fall much 

 l.i low the 75s. ? I have not the slightest doubt that 

 they will. 



10.482. I take the samp view myself. If s,,. is it 

 in your view necessary that there should lie a guar- 

 antee:' Yes. If the land is to be cultivate I and we 

 arc to get the best use out of our .soil, we must have 

 :> guarantee. 



10,4X3. Your Chamber or the mem born are all 

 a g iced on that?- We are all agreed on that. 



10.484. I want you to consider this. We have been 

 told time after time that it is most desirable to have 

 the |M>licy fixed and the guarantees arranged for 

 a certain number of years, so that the farmer may 

 know where lie is. say. for five to eight years. If 

 that could bo done, would that benefit the farmer:' 



I would much prefer that it should be fixed the 

 year before. 



10.485. I am asking you first of all whether a 

 farmer would IK- better served if he had an arrange- 

 ment made for a number of years, not necessarily 

 a fixed price' Yes. I agree with you. 



10.486. That would help him to know when- lie 

 stands, and he would be able to lay out bin plans 

 and his rotation on a certainty, as it were? 1 agree 

 with you. 



10.487. Tho difficulty in that arises that everything 

 the farmer has to buv varies from day to day; that 

 is to say. his feeding stuffs, his fertilisers. Ir's 

 machinery, and h : s wages, the latter of which can 

 vary at a month's notice under the Wa<res Board, 

 but practically two to t)iree months, If there 'is 



