MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



95 



23 September, 1919.] 



MR. JAMES WYLLIE. 



[Continued. 



11.852. I think it would be of great help to the 

 Commission if you would do it? It would be only my 

 own opinion on the matter, and I do not know that 

 would carry very great weight. I have not sufficient 

 information at my disposal to enable me to say with 

 any surety what the fall in freights is likely to be; 

 that is one of my difficulties. 



11.853. I quite realise that in regard to those com- 

 modities which are affected by changes in the rates 

 of freight the estimate could not be anything like so 

 near as in regard to the oats and the seed. But if 

 you could give us the two figures separately, the one 

 more certain and the other more hypothetical, it 

 would assist us very much? I see your point, and I 

 will do my beet to get it out for what it is worth. 



11.854. I should be very grateful if you will? 

 Would you mind repeating exactly what you would 

 like me to do? 



11.855. What I really want is as much information 

 as we can get as regards the degree to which the 

 cost of producing cereals would fall automatically 

 if the selling price of cereals fell? I follow. 



11.856. Would it be possible for you with regard 

 to these analyses of costs to break up the percentage 

 of total cost allotted to man and horse labour, so that 

 we can see how much is due to each of those elements? 

 I have already attempted to do that, but I dis- 

 covered that it was a much bigger job than I expect- 

 ed. I was so pressed for time that it was absolutely 

 impossible to get it completed. I have it in hand as 

 a matter of fact, because I recognise the importance 

 of having that division made. 



11.857. How soon do you think you will be able 

 to supply us with that? Unfortunately my time is 

 not my own these days, but I will do my best to get it 

 out as soon as possible. 



11.858. Mr. Nicholli: In connection with Farm 64 

 (App. IV., pt. C), have you any evidence from any of 

 the smaller cultivators in Lincolnshire under the head- 

 ing of Potatoes? Unfortunately not. It has been ex- 

 tremely difficult all through to get any evidence from 

 the smaller men. We have done our utmost to get 

 such evidence, but as you know perfectly well it is 

 very difficult. If we had had more time it would 

 have been possible to go and make a personal investi- 

 gation on the spot, and we might have got such evi- 

 dence, but so fax we have failed. 



11.859. With regard to dykes, I notice that where 

 dykes come into the accounts they have put down 

 25 chains at 6s. a chain, to be cleaned out every four 

 years. Have you any evidence that these dykes 

 were cleaned out every four years at the rate of 6s. 

 a chain? With regard to that item, in the case of 

 this particular farm I do not think that this work was 

 done at all. 



11.860. Then it is an estimate really of what ought 

 to be done? Yes. 



11.861. My experience of Lincolnshire and other 

 districts where there are dykes is that it is a much 

 longer period than every four years before the dykes 

 are cleaned out? I do not think you will find that 

 particular item comes into the costs which follow 

 at all. 



11.862. Also with regard to the laying of hedges, 

 7s. a chain is allowed, and it is assumed that those 

 hedges would be laid once in five years, and that 

 they would be trimmed every two years. I wonder 

 whether anybody's experience of hedging is that 

 hedges want laying every five years? I do not want 

 to go into the whole thing, but those two items alone 

 show to me that, at least those two items are over- 

 drawn? You will notice the note just below, that 

 although that estimate comes to 3s. per acre per 

 annum, based on the figures which are given, only 

 2. per acre has been charged. I think the farmer in 

 this case realised that his details were rather over- 

 drawn, and he did not charge the full 3s., he only 

 charged 2s. 



11.864. That is for the hedging? For what are 

 called fpncing charges. 



11.865. Mr. Parker: In Part B, where you 

 give the summary of the cost of production, I see 

 that the cost per acre of wheat varies from 11 Is. 5d. 

 to 23 3n. 6d., and that the cost per quarter varies 

 from 62s. 9d. to 124s. lOd. What are mainly the 



chief causes for these very large variations in the 

 cost of production? With regard to the cost per 

 acre you will find that it depends very largely upon 

 the way in which the land is treated. 



11.866. I am alluding to the 1918 figures? Taking 

 the cost per acre in the case of the highest cost, 

 23 3s. 6d., that was on a highly rented farm where 

 everything was being sold off. The costs of manuring 

 were very high, and you will notice in that particular 

 case the straw has been credited at 3 per ton because 

 in that case both the grain and the straw were sold. 

 That cost includes not only the cost of marketing the 

 grain, but also the cost of marketing the straw. 

 With regard to the lowest cost, that is on light land 

 where the cultivations, of course, are very much 

 lower, and the manuring is considerably lower. 



18.867. The costs of production varying to such an 

 extent as they do will not be a very sound basis for 

 founding any recommendation upon with regard to a 

 guarantee, will they? I agree that when you see 

 very large variations in cost of production, taking it 

 per acre or per quarter, that one is somewhat at a 

 loss to know exactly what line to take. 



11.868. It seems to me these costs are eo wide that 

 they cannot form any proper basis upon which to 

 make any recommendation? I would like to suggest 

 that if you are considering the cost per quarter the 

 only possible line that you can take is to exclude the 

 very highest. If you take the very .highest cost, 

 the 124s. 10d., that was quite an exceptional case, 

 and that case I should rule out at once. You may 

 also find at the other end certain costs which are 

 low for some particular reason. I should also rule 

 those out, and if you rule out the extremes at either 

 end you will find after doing so that the variation 

 is not so considerable. 



11.869. Of course, these costs of production are 

 greatly affected by the quaJilty of the land and by the 

 ability of the farmer, and many other things? Very 

 largely by the ability of the farmer. 



11.870. Mr. Smith : Having regard to the figures of 

 yields, are they estimates or actual? In certain cases 

 they are actual yields based upon figures of threshings 

 which were actually put before me. ' In other cases 

 with regard to 1919 crops, of course they can only be 

 estimates. You will notice that in a good many cases 

 nothing has been put in the yield columns at all. In 

 these cases I was not able to satisfy myself that the 

 farmer was in a position to put forward reliable 

 figures. 



11.871. Have you formed any opinion as to the class 

 of soil that gives the best results in cereals? What 

 do you mean by the best results as regards yield per 

 jicre? 



11.872. Yes? It is almost impossible to "say. I 

 should say that much more depends upon the treat- 

 ment of the land than upon the nature of the land. 



11.873. Would you think that sandy soil would give 

 the best yield per acre? Certainly not. 



11.874. Can you just explain to me how it is in Part 

 B, section B* in your 1918 barley crop the Somerset 

 siindy soil gives an average yield of 36 bushels per acre, 

 which is four bushels above the next one and consider- 

 ably above the average for the whole? Also in regard 

 to the 1919 crop in the case of the Berkshire sandy soil 

 again, apart from Dorset, you have got the highest 

 yield per acre? Of course everyone knows that sandy 

 soils are typical barley soils, and that you do get the 

 largest crops of barley on good sandy soil. You used 

 the term " cereals " and now you are speaking par- 

 ticularly of barley. 



11.875. Do you suggest this result would follow? 

 Which result? 



11.876. That in a sandy soil you would get the best 

 yield of barley? If it is well treated. 



11.877. Almost the same thing applies in the 1919 

 crop of wheat. It is true it is after a fallow. In 

 Berkshire sandy soil the average yield is 32, whilst the 

 average yield in Lincolnshire is only 27. I should 

 have hardly thought that Berkshire sandy soil would 

 have been a better wheat-producing medium than 

 Lincolnshire soil? I hope you will bear in mind that 

 these are particular cases and that other factors 



besides the soil affect the yield. 



* See Appendix IV. 



