54 



KoYAL i .'MMi->i"N UN Ai.Kici i:n UK, 



17 **i*tl*r, 1919.] 



Mi:. H. ARMOUR mod MR. O. O. M 



[Conlimitd. 



\\..ulil yu suggest that that is a rca.son- 

 bl<> allowance for tli- <-Ut* of manure:- I think it 

 Mill IN- i|illt<- ample. 



ln..V.Ki. Do nut you think it in too much P It may be 

 a little over. (.Wi. linnMirt: I .should nay MI. 



10,.~>!7. .Ur. Orrrnmn : .Mr. Duncan told you that 

 when von fixed your wages in May last, you were 

 fixing tin-in without having any guarantee from th,- 

 in ..... nt : *re you agreed? >. 



III..".!"- l>.i you 'not think you were wrong in that 

 i.nsner- It would have been very wrong t<> have done 

 anything else. Wauite we <ould not have got the men. 



10,599. Your answer was that you agreed with Mr. 

 Duncan. 1 put it to you that you had the promise of 

 \ eminent at that date that the maximum price 

 for wreak in li'ls should In- the minimum price in 

 liilli? I <lo not know whether we had the guarantee 

 in not at that time, hut it was talked about. 



10,6(10. The promise was there from the Govern- 

 ment. that the maximum price of the 1918 crop should 

 In- the minimum price of the 1919 crop. That was in 

 November. You did know that if you carry your 

 memory back. The promise was given in November, 

 I'M-, with a free market? We had an idea that the 

 promise was given : but we had no idea that the 

 Government was at the back of the promise. 



10.0111. In fact you did not trust the Government? 



I oii M not go that length; but we had to face a 

 veto on it. 



10,602. I can tell you the promise was there? (.Ur. 

 M' in i) There were many farmers who were not trust- 

 ing this promise at that time, as we all know. 



10,003. Mr. Duncan also asked you something on 



your labour bill. He eould not understand why von 



were able to do the work with less hours and less men:' 



U, linmiiM As I have explained to you, we 



gradually find that we have left undone work that .ve 



unlit to have done; and, as I explained before, we 

 were relieved of the carting of straw and hay to n 

 market 10 miles away. 



10,604. But do not you think the answer to that 

 qm-stioii is given in the last paragraph but one of yo-ir 

 'tatement. that much of the land is dirty and will 

 rojuire extra expense for cleaning? Yes, I agree. 

 It has got dirty on that account. 



10,60.5. I take it your fences are. like oilier people's. 

 giown up. and work has been left undone that should 

 have been done? 1 agree; that is so. 



lll.liOO. Taking your farm alone, what do you 



sinuate it will cost |>er acre to put your land back 

 into the condition it was in in 1913. say I' It will take 

 anything from C2 to tl the acre. 



10,607. I think that an.swers the question with 

 rigard to ho the work has been done, with lev- monev 

 ond less hours :---> 



III.IKIS In the last paragraph of your precis. yo'i 



s.iv you attach great importance to an adequate 



gu.u.i'iteed price being provided for oats As' \l . 



C:iutley pointed out to you. you evidently think :i 



deal more ol oats than you do of anything clso? 



\N e would like oats to recci\e la\ oui able considera- 

 tion. as we grow 11 great deal more oats than wheat 



li'.MKl. Carrying your point of view a little further. 

 d.. .Mm think that if you on your farm can only grow 

 iix qn.iricis ,,( , 1; ,|s ,,, (I,,, ,,,. r ,, V((|| .,,.,, . l() |,. t ' <t Kr , m . 



tue quarters of wheat? Yes. when we grow potato.--. 

 1i. In. What is the biggest crop of oat- M,,, ,. V er 

 grew ? -The biggest ,-i,,p,.| oats I ever grew was eleven 

 I nun 



1'UJll. What is the sm.,lles::- The smallest I have 

 .:iown is possibly down to two; but I only on, e 

 grew eleven quarters of oatg. 



ld.012. Would not >ou sa\ that your average crop 

 f oata wan more likely to IM- seven and eight than six ? 

 No. 



10.01:1 Not if M,U ..... ;1 |,|,. , Kr , m . ,.,, ,,,.,,, 



heat to the , . r. .... :l |,le to gr,, I,M- 



-.of wheat Wcaune we are growing it (,he 

 bt land nnd under the Ix-st conditions. 



10.61 I. And yon put your bnrley nt five quarters? 



1 i 



at 



,, 

 I do. 



' of your strBW from 



10,1)1(5. \\li.il proportion do you sell : I could 

 hardly .in-wei (lie <|iiesiion. but I think fully half is 

 sold. 



10,017. And the rest Ton put into manure by cat tie I" 



V 



ln.lilv Mr. !!! : Mr. Caulley. I think it wa-. 

 you on the question of interest, and suggested th.it 

 you were not charging enough latterly because ol the 

 increase in capital, and you agreed to that? Ye-. I 

 think so. 



10,619. Do not you think there is a further point 



that In-fore the war ncv was only worth 3J to 



I per cent, lor investment, whereas IIOM you can gel 

 ~>[ per cent, in (iovernnii nt securities, so that a still 

 further increase might he charged against it on that 

 account:- I am afraid yo-i could not get money to 

 carry on a farm at those figures. I do not think you 

 would get money to carry on n farm at less than !t 

 per cent, at any time, even pre-w.ir. 



111.1120. If you could not get it at lew. than ."> per 

 cent, then you would not get it under 7 per cent. 

 now? No, you would not. 



10.021. I mean, there is a considerable increase din- 

 on account on the increase of capital and the increase 

 on the price to get it? Yes; my estimate ought to 

 have been higher there. 



I*l.li22. What is the nature of your land? I 

 mostly light land? No, it is stiff heavy land. 



10,638. Kcally stiff clay land:- Yes. it is heavy land 

 to plough. 



10,621. Still, you can plough it with two hor- 

 Yes, two horses will do it; hut it takes two hea\\ 

 horses to do it. 



10.625. Is yours a four-course rotation- > - 



10.626. I do not quite understand from the figures 

 how it is. Do you take potatoes or roots? Yes. ami 

 then wheat or barlc\. 



10,62". You take potatoes.- Yi-s. 



10.628. Then wheat or bnrlev?- Yi - 



10.629. Then you sow down again? Yes. hay. 



10.630. Do you feed man\ turnips on the land? 

 My land is too heavy for that. I have often to eon 

 sumc them in the courts, or find a market for them 

 and buy manure in their pi: 



10.031. Do yon apply the manure to the fallow land ? 

 Yes. the potato land. 



10.032. And the residue grows the wheat crop? 

 Kxactl,. 



10,633. You grow your wheat on the he.-t part 01 

 your root break, and the barley on the turnip hrcak? 

 --Yes. 



I0.i;;tt. Wheat after potatoes, and liarlcv after 

 turnips? Yes. 



HU130. So that the wheat really yets the II.-M ion 

 ditions? Yes. 



10.636. And that accounis f,, r j( being as high a 

 return as the harlcv :- Y.-s. I might sa\ I think 

 that there ought to l>e so much credited' from the 

 potato crop and debited to the wheat. 



10.637. For the extra cultivation? ^ 



lO.li-'K You suggest a guarantee for live \ears. I),, 

 you think that is long enough- I have mi objection 

 to putting it longer. 



10. (>.)!>. For the sake ot giving ronfidcn. 

 hut five years would enable us to turn about ami s, e 

 how things wen- going to drift. 



I'UUO. Hut do \ou agree that the war has shown 

 us that if the country is to lie saved in the future 

 we must }r r m v ., -,-eat deal more cereals than , did 

 in the past? There is no doubt we must have a great 

 deal more of the land under cultivation, for the 

 safety of the country and for the benefit of the in 

 dustrial classes. 



lo.lill. That is the point. | wanted. Therefore, see. 

 ing that the farmer simply from his own .selfish point 

 of view can make as much profit from grass farming, 

 or at any rate a considerable amount of grass farm 

 ing. as from tillage, do you think this guarantee 

 essary for the benefit' of the farmer or for the 

 benc,nt of the consumer? I think it is for the benefit 

 of the nation as a whole. I do not think it is to the 

 interests of the country to allow the land to lie 

 derelict without producing the be-t it can. and the 

 Cinoininent ou^ht t() u,,,^,. arrangements to sec that 

 it i* done. 



