112 



niMMISSMX ON .\.liU TI.TI I!K. 



.'1 Srplrmbrr. 1919.] 



Mi:. .1. (' 



[Ciinliiiutil. 



Tht would make it 11*. 6d.P Yes, it would 

 bo 11*. 6d. for tkis your .919. 



13.399. I *ent a horse to the smithy the other day 

 to be shod and my boy laid to me: " What do you 

 think ther arc going to charge you"P I said: 



ut Ub." " No," he said, " 22s., according to 

 th ue of the shoe " ?Ye, I quite believe that. 



12.400. Yon mention here " Share of rent, rates, 

 insurance, Ac." What amount of insurance is 

 included there? The insurance of horses. 



12.401. Against fire? Yes. 



19.402. Against fire only? Yes. 



12.403. Have you never been in the habit of 

 insuring against deaths in horses? No, I have in- 

 foal mares, but that is not mentioned here. 



12.404. Taking the wheat crop, vou say that you 

 have a large number of horses 20 working cart 

 horses on the farm? Yes. 



12.405. Still you have down here " Steam plough- 

 ing and pressing "? Yes. 



12.406. Have you steam tackle on your farm ? We 

 hire it. 



12.407. Your 20 working horses are not able to 

 tackle the work? We are cultivating 800 acres of 

 arable land. 



12.408. Unless you hire steam tackle the 20 horses 

 would not be equal to the work ? The wheat is 

 grown after two years lay, and, therefore, it is 

 beyond the power of the horses to plough that land 

 efficiently for the growth of the wheat. We have 

 therefore, to use a steam plough to plough it up to 

 a depth of 7 inches, and press with a heavy press, 

 it is generally done in August. 



12.409. You say threshing at one rick per day. 

 What does that mean? We put up our ricks at a 

 convenient size, so that we can get a rick threshed 

 out in a day with our tackle. 



12.410. How much acreage is included in eaeh 

 rick? It depends on the straw crop of that wheat, 

 but on an average we put from 10 to 12 acres in a 

 rick. 



12.411. You are able to thresh that amount per 

 day? Yes. 



12.412. With nine men? Yes. 



12.413. Does that include the drivers of the thresh 

 ing machine? Yes. I can explain it if you like. 

 During the last two years and during this year we 

 have threshed by the tractor which we now use. 

 That saves a man ; it does not require an attendant, 

 and, therefore, the man is able to look after the 

 sacks. If you thresh by steam you must have another 

 man to attend to the steam engine alone. 



12.414. Then you say that the hire of sacks per 

 acre only amounts to 8d.? Id. per sack is what we 

 re charged now by the merchant for the hire of the 



*:i< k- 



12.415. You are in a very fortunate position as 

 compared with the position I am in in that respect : 

 they charge me very much more than that for sacks 

 nt the present time? We do not keep them long- 

 only a few days. 



12,410. Hnvi- you grown more wheat or cereals on 

 your farm during war time than vou did previously 9 



12. 117. Have you been able to obtain such good 

 crops during the war as you did previously on the 

 average of the four years'? About the samV I'M- 

 was exceptionally good. 



12. IH. Do you consider that your land is in as 

 good state on the whole now as it was in say 

 Mil l No, not so good. 



2,419. In wh.it T. ,!.,. t. |,as it i|.. t..,-i, ,,:,),..];' There 

 'n larger area of corn grown, and. therefore, 

 .o IKSMI obliged to grow two |trM OTO{M follow- 

 ing, which deteriorates the inmi nnd get* it to n 



" extent foul. 



12 120. Mr. Duncan: Can yon loll me what prin- 

 ciple yon adopt><l in rharging'your int<-ret on capital 

 in the various accounU? -It is explained, I think. 

 The average value of the horse* js 02 l<>, cadi, ami 

 nil tho items are here: wheat. CDS 15s.; barley. 



'".. and wo on. 



12.121. On your wheat rrop Xo. HI your charge 

 '* 5 per rent, on the total ,.( of the crop i- it ' 



12,422. Is that followed throughout in your charges? 

 ^ ' us I can it the interest is 



charged on the capital of each of the-,, commoditit*. 



I2.rj:t. ('.in you tell me how much the ini 

 on the capital over the wl would amount 



toP 617. 



12. 12 1. That works out at 5 per cent, on the capital 

 actually in the farm ' J -Yes, estimated at 12.000 

 in* !. !. 



12.425. Is that the figure of the valuation of the 

 furin at the end of the year? Yes. 



12.426. Is that the figure which ap|xars in your 

 lialance .-hoc i - | have not got my balance sheets 

 with me. 



12.427. No, but when you do make up your bn' 

 sheet is that the figure which appear*:- The im 

 capital varies from year to year. 



12.428. Exactly, but that is the figure which ap- 

 pears for this year, I .suppose? That is 



12,429. What docs the total sum for management 

 amount to on '.he whole of the farn 



12.430. Iii this sheep account No. 4, what number 

 of sheep and lambs were sold. You give the 

 figure at 1,834 19s.? Ye.s. that was the total of 

 receipts from sheep sold during that y-jar. 



12.431. C'an you give us the numbers sold? I am 

 afraid I cannot, exactly. I ran give them to you 

 approximately. In July we sell off our draft ewes; 

 then we sell our wether lambs in September, or if 

 we have food to carry them through we grow them 

 into mutton and send them to market. 



12.432. What number of lambs had you in 1918-19? 

 640 about a lamb to a ewe. 



13.433. Do you reckon it is a normal thing for 

 you to lose on your sheep account? Yes. 



12.434. How long has that been going on? The 

 whole of my time of farming. 



12.435. Has there been any improvement during the 

 war period? Of course, the figures are much greater. 



12.436. You mean you are losing more now? On 

 account of the figures being greater you see. 



12.437. Are you actually losing more money on your 

 sheep account now than you did prior to the war? 

 Yes. 



12.438. Is that common in your district?- Y< 

 where large flocks are kept. The sheep are always 

 in tho hurdles for 365 nights of the year. They are 

 fertilising the arable. 



12.439. Mr. Edwards: You have been -through 

 these figures and you supplied us with the cost of 

 production per acre of the individual crops. Would 

 you, as a farmer of wide experience, make a sugges- 

 tion to tho Commission as to what minimum price 

 you would require for the growing of those crops 

 on your farm? That is a very important question. 

 I have had a good deal of experience for 40 years. 

 and I have grown a great deal of corn. I think 

 under the present conditions of farming I, for in- 

 stance, cannot grow wheat at tho present day at 

 less than 80s. n quarter. 



12.440. What about barley do you grow bar 1 

 I grow from 40 to 60 acres generally. 



12.441. Would vou venture to give a figure as 

 regards barley? I should say 70s. 



12.442. And oats?- 55s. those are under present 

 day conditions. 



12.443. In order to be quite clear, what weight 



per quarter do vou mean in the various crops?- 

 Wheat, 501 Ihs. ; barley, 448 Ibs. ; and oats. ,'Wi Ibs. 



12.444. Mr. Axhlifi: I have been looking at vour 

 winter ration, particularly for horses. What is the 

 chaff there? Oat straw chaff, chiefly. 



12,41V I take it that is about a cwi. a w ci k '- 

 Yes. I may sav that, the wheat, dust is mixed with the 

 oat straw chaff generally. When we thrc-h all the 

 wheat dust, is collected and taken : e of 



and the, oat straw chaff mixed with it. 



12.446. This chaff is really the wheat, chaff from 

 the thresher mixed with oat chaff straw? Yes. 



12.147. Should I be right in assuming that this 

 ration of bran runs to nearly 2 Ibs. a day, or somo- 

 thiiig ; 12 and 14 Ibs. a week? There i.s ver> 



bran, I think. 



