no 



KMYAI. COMMISSION ON A.GBICULTUBB. 



24 Stflembtr, 1919.] 



MR. WILLIAM EDWARD ATTEHBOROUOH. 



13,320. In tho last course, oats, if you sold 

 oats at 66*. a quarter, you irould make a profit of 

 1C*. lOd. nd the straw in that particular year? 

 YM. 



13,331. If you add four years' profits together, they 

 come to t'tj 12s., mill the average over tin- In. 

 would IN- ill (Is. 5d. an acre. 1 * \ 



13.322. Do you agree itli me tliat in order to !>< 

 of any benefit to you on your heavy land, the 

 guarantee as regards wheat would need to be not 

 lew than 80s. a quarter to bo of any service to y.mr 

 Certainly. 



13.323. it seems as though the guarantee on <-.ii- 

 would need to be not less than 60s. a quarter f 

 Certainly. 



12.324. In fart, it ought to be more, because your 

 profit on oats is the lowest profit in the whole five 

 courses? 60s. as a minimum guarantee. 



12.325. And you would liko a free market, I 

 suppose, above that? Absolutely. 



12.326. I think you said, in answer to a Com- 

 missioner, that you were one of those few farmers 

 who pay income tax on your actual profits? ^ 



12. .'127. You have your accounts audited and you 

 pay income tax upon the actual results ascertained 

 by that method? I have done for 1918. 



12.328. When the proper time comes, you are pre- 

 pared to put in your balance sheet? Certainly. 



12.329. And to come back here again to be ques- 

 tioned upon it? Certainly. 



12.330. Mr. .1. M. UnxlrrfOti : For the whole farm:- 

 For the whole farm. 



12.331. Mr. Lennard: I understood you to say just 

 now that you considered an 80s. guarantee for wheat 

 would be necessary on your class of land?- That is a 

 question which I do not care twopence about, but if 

 it is necessary for wheat to be grown on that land, a 

 guarantee of less than 80s. would be of no use what- 

 ever. 



12.332. Is the land of your farm, or tho particular 

 fields you have been dealing with, average quality 

 land? It is the average quality of the heavy land on 

 the farm. 



12.333. On the heavy land of your farm you con- 

 sider that wheat is an unremunerativo proposition, 

 unless there is a minimum guarantee of 80s.? Cer- 

 tainly. 



12.334. You also said, in answer to Mr. Langford 

 just now, that you desired a free market above that 

 price? Yes, certainly. 



12.335. I gather, then, that you expect that the 

 world's price of wheat will sometimes, or perhaps 

 frequently, be above 80s.? It may or it may not; I 

 have no opinion with regard to that. 



12.336. You said just now that it was important 

 to have a free market with regard to your wheat? - 

 (Vrtainly. 



12.337. How would the free market help you if the 

 world's price of wheat was not usually or frequently 

 Creator than 80s.? 1 nm afraid, Mr. Chairman, w'e 

 are netting away from costs. 



1'hniriHtin : I did not stop the question for the 



". that in answer to Mr. l.angford you said you 



favoured a guaranty of HOs. ami that in addition 



\..M alwi uant<d the play of tl larkct. It necessarily 



follows from your an.swers to Mr. I/angford that Mr. 

 L.-nnard is within his rights in asking you why yon 

 want th fro* play jif the market I 'should* have 

 ftop|N-d Mr. I.angford. It was my own fault and i 

 n|HilogiH> for not doing so. | , afraid, Mr. I/ennanl. 

 it it no um continuing the questions in tho cireum- 

 tancM. 



\\'itnr->: May I nay I do not wish n guarantee 

 of any prici- whatever; I wish a free market, l.'it 

 if it is in the int. -rests of the country that .corn 

 khiiuld be grown on that class of land.' t,hn I 

 it cannot be grown at a profit under 80s. I wan't 

 to make that very clear. 



12. .'J-'VH Mr. \ ill, nil t: I n in not quite clear about 

 the arrangement you have f..r di-al'ng out corn to the 

 horsemen. I uppom< you have a regular horseman v 



12.339 Your custom i< at the end of the week 

 to pilot him out so much JUT head per horse whether 

 they aro at work or not. I .uppow* 9 That is so. 



12,34<>. So that really the estimate you put in here 

 ii]>oii uliat you actually dole out to the 

 horseman!' That is so. 



1 -':!. He would be in a very bad toni|>er on the 

 t.iv it von did n, .t dole him out what he 

 lo-l !- That is 0. 



1 2,3-12. The horseman is verv keen about his allot 

 mcnt of corn for his horsc- 



12,3I.'4. With regard to these working days. I am 

 a little puzzled about them. I do not think that you 

 want us to believe thai 200 working day.-, for a hoise 

 applies to your farm as a wh 



12,. 'Ml. There are many days on which the 1 

 are not working on the stiff land, but are working 

 on other land: That is so. 



I2.:U~>. So that really they are working more than 

 200 days on the average!- If I wen- giving an 

 mate for the whole of the arable hind I .should in- 

 crease those working days. 



12.346. I was pu/./.led because yours is the lowest 

 with the exception of one that I have traced an 



all our lists. They go up to 280 in Oxford, MO in 

 Salop, 290 in Dorset, 260 in Somerset, and so on. 

 There is only one other county where they .show 

 the number of working days as low as 200 and your 

 estimate is also the highest per aero a.s regards the. 

 cost per day, 7s. 3d. They run ii~. and t\~. i:d. ; there 

 are several at T.s., but there is not another our that 

 1 have found as high as 7s. :<d. A point a* i 

 too, about bird scaring. I am rather interested in 

 that because I have had some. I cannot find out tin- 

 size of these fields, but somebody seemed to suggest 

 that it was really 2s. Gd. an acre on ail this corn 

 growing land?- It is 2s. 6d. an acre on the i 

 crop. 



12.347. Aro yon troubled much with game in your 

 district? Wo are smothered with rooks; it is the 

 rooks and wood pigeons that do the mischief. 



12.348. They shoot all the pheasants and partridges 

 I suppose? The game on my farm is let; I do r >t 

 have the shooting. 



12.349. Does that really account for tho high figure 

 of 2s. 6d. an acre for scaring birds, because it ,- 

 rather high? Do you call it a high figure? 



12.350. Yes. I suppose it is a boy that does it. 

 and occasionally a girl!' Sometimes a man, because 

 we cannot get the 1 



12.351. Are boys frightened of rooks in your part 

 of tho country. This is the first time 1 have hoard 

 of a man being engaged to drive olF rooks. I should 

 have thought it would be fine sport for a boy. 

 In your district is bird .scaring a full time job? 

 For boys certainly. 



12,3.52. They always made me do something else? 

 So do I. If there is any stono-pioking-up to do 

 they do that, but it is very rarely you can combine 

 the two job*. 



I L'. 353. I suppose there is no doubt, like most 

 other fanners, you do combine the two jobs when 

 there is a chance? Yes. 



12.351. You would not let a man go and waste tho 

 whole of his time bird scaring?- No. certainly not. 



12,355. So that it does generally happen that tin 

 person, whoever he is, who is looking alter the bird 

 scaring is doing something else at the same time? Not 

 with the bo\ i, 



12.35fi. No, but you said you could not get bo-. 

 I say when we cannot p< t ho\s. It is always a matter 

 of convenience. 



12.357. 1 was suspicious a little In cause (he rent 

 of your farm looks rather l<,w. t-l-mg the whole of 

 it, and it did indicate to me that ihciv would > 

 good deal of trouble- with game and rooks. I mean 

 where there lire rooks tin-re is generally something 

 else nbout as well, and that would he one thing 

 which would hamper a farmer in his endeavour 

 The game has nothing to do \\ith the scaring. 



I2.35v No. I know. Imt is it not a handicap to a 

 farmer in cereal growing when In- lias i^ot a farm 

 on which somebody e! the shooting!- I; 



depends on the man who has the shooting absolutely; 

 p'T-onally I have had no trouble \\hatevor. 



I2.35fi. Do you moan honestly to sny that you do 

 not mind. Would you not prefer to have a farm 

 whore there was no game if you were really out 

 for cereal growing? (Vrtainly.' 



