Ill 



HuYAl. roMMls-|,.\ OF AiilMi n.TTRK. 





% 1919.] 



MR. J. ComiMS. 



[CoitttHUOd. 



19,488. Thu low on steep seem* to b a serious 

 matt- , B rery worioiis. unit tor imlood. 



12.49O. It you ta'nnot >l" omethiag U> diminish 

 that. d.^ it not s'cin nliuo.st iui|M>vihlf Ul cany 



abandon. our 



l.irin ui.ulil IM- use!.-* for growing corn in two years. 



r.M:>l. You would ha away with i-orn 



growing altogether:- Yes. we ( ul<l not do it. 



1'J 4 !*-'. Your hind will not grow corn unless it is 

 tr.-hlcu by the sheep and fertilised by the sh- 

 Ye*, nil tin- year round. 



12.193. It looks to be a very risky and uncertain 

 business on tin- faco of it!' ' V<--, but it is quite 

 necessary. 



lL',494. Do you think you get back the direct loss 

 on the sheep "in the increase of crop:- It is the only- 

 way. Of cotir.se. the wo.il this year will help the 

 sheep; then- would l>o a much greater deficit if we 

 had iiot a good price for wool this year. It has 



g..nr u] >re than 100 per cent, since the controls 



' aken off the wool. 



19.495. Yes, without that it would have been much 

 wors 



12.496. What I was rather wondering was if this 

 result has not a tendency to force fanners out of cereal 

 cultivation:- They havi- been practising it with the 

 help of strong fertilisers, sulphate of ammonia, nitrate 

 of soda, and so on, hut they are only a stimulant, in 

 my experience they do not lust long. 



12.497. That would not keep the land permanently 

 in a good state? No, nothing will do it like the 

 sheeps' feet. 



12.498. I agree. The danger of the position seems 

 to be that farmers may get frightened of it unless 

 they have something really substantial to encourage 

 them to grow corn? Yes. 1 quite agree. 



12.499. Do you think without, a guarantee they 

 would or would not carry on corn growing? It is 

 a difficult question. I do not think they wouia. 



12.500. It is necessary to give them some security? 

 We cannot make as much of our sheep as we could 

 because there is a flat rate on mutton. We graze 

 our best lambs about 12 or 13 Ibs. a quarter, and if 

 we take them into the market we only get Is. 2d., 

 whereas for a great fit ram or a heavy ewe we get 

 just the same. We used to look to our lambs to bring 

 us in the money. 



12,601. Yes, but have not we to consider that in 

 the future there is a possibility that we may have 

 to take even less than that? I do not see how it is 

 to be done. 



12.502. Dr. Douglas: Did I understand you to 

 describe your land as three horse land? Yes. 



12.503. It is described in the note on your farm 

 in the evidence put before us as light loam on chalk. 

 Would that ordinarily be the character of thiee horse 

 land? Yes, light loa'm on chalk. There is one item 

 charged against the cultivation of mangolds where 

 two horses were used, hut that was ploughed up to 



ura depth in the winter, and a large quantity 

 of farmyard mnnuie ploughed in which could not be 

 done with a double plough. 



12.504. As to your sheep account I see that you 

 have a considerable outlay on food for tin- she. p, 

 Apart from green crop there s, ms to be about 

 1,100 worth of concentrated feeding? Yes. 



12.505. I think you only allow 200 for the 

 nianurial residue of that, and of nil the green crop 

 together. Is that a sufficient allowance? What do 

 yon bnw> it upon? I just want to know how yon 

 get nt it? After you h.-ve taken your wheat crop 

 after ' lay < onsiderabl" money has to be 

 spout in rlraiimg the land to picp:irc fur your catch 



We umw three catch crops in two years. 

 Therefore, nfter exhausting the hind with two years' 

 ilm.T and then a crop of wheat followed In a crop 

 of bar'ey < are obliged to grow thro catch 



.1 year* Hiul r.-pl. ni-h that land with the sheep 

 the \ilnili- tini" in order to come on to corn again. 



11'.. VW. Yen, but my point is how you get at 2<X) 



a* th. .due of th" innniiri. 1 i . nilue of your 



That was an c.timatc thnt we' put 



12..VJ7. Ho do ,,,te it; what is yur 



method ;our hnsi* - Tb.. vain of th- crop 

 On the land it is all f'-d on tin- hind. If : 



is grown on the land, as the ghoep consume it they 



return that crop to the land in ihe shape of manure. 

 lV>,:.<iv What- about ihe artificial feeding in 

 addition to the crop eon-imied on the land:- !> 

 you mean cai 



,,k. and imls ;,nd hay. You have 031' 

 10s. for . .1!..- peas and beans, and 1S2 10s. for oats, 

 and 320 for hay. I- th re no maniirnl residue from 

 1 'h. yes. 



I J.:, 1 1 1. Is i'|, ,1 Ml the J<I'' 



I-'... II. \Vh.re is it in the V'"i The nianurial 



i. I mm these I Bug;;, si 10 you will in iiselt be 



more than 2*H( withoui anything for your crop? 



That is the result of i-iy experience; I do not think 



I can put it at more. 



12,512. That conflict*, does it not, with the usual 

 iter. I put ii to you that if \ou were 

 leaving MUM farm you would claim a good deal more 

 than that' in respect ol improvements through 

 ing on the land:- More ihan the 200 for the 

 nianurial value of the sheep. 



12,613. Yes, I am Mm -..u would be advised to 

 claim a good deal more than that for all that feeding 

 stuff consumed on the land. .My point is that more 

 ought to be credited to the sheep and more charged 

 against the arable ciop in respect of that. Have 

 you anything to say with regard to it in explanation? 

 No. 



12.514. Did you consider the point? Oh, yes. 



12.515. Do you observe Mr. Wyllio's note on the 

 .snb.je.-t:- I take it t:i bo his note? Yes, it is Mr. 

 Wyllie's note at the end of the sheep account. 



12..-) 1C.. He says: "968 2s. must be carried by 

 succeeding mm ero] "- It ; s explained in a 

 way with regard to the small amount which I have 

 put for the growing of the turnips. You observe 

 the cost of groiving roots Is only C! .in acre turnip, 

 rape, and so on. 



L7. Is that how you get at your 200? If we 

 put the maniirial value of the sheep nt more than 

 200 the cost of growing the roots must IK> materially 

 more. 



12,618. The nianurial value of the residues from 

 sheep feeding is a cost not against the root crop, but 

 against the succeeding crop, is it not?- The following 

 corn crop. 



12.519. Yes? Of course, you see it depends a L 

 deal with regard to the nianurial value of the sli.ep 

 upon what kind of a crop you have got to fceil olf 

 with those sheep. In this particular year a great 

 acreage of the roots was very poor indeed and a larger 

 breadth had to be given every day ; therefore, the 

 nianurial value was coiiM'i|tienlly much loss. 



12.520. Yes, but the nianurial value of the artificial 

 feeding stuffs for the concentrated feeding would 

 remain notwithstanding. I put it to you that yon 

 have not allowed nearly enough for the maim rial 

 value of your sheep feeding and that, therefore, yon 

 have not charged enough in respect of that at; 



the succeeding crops? That may be so. 



12.521. Do you agree? We reckon the nianurial 

 value of feeding stuffs to be' about one-sixth of the 

 value that we give for them. 



12.522. I do not think that in a very u. nerally 

 accepted basis, but if you take that it would still 

 he a very much larger amount than your i'2(K) without 

 allowing anything whatever for the consumption of 

 your root crop. You agree that there is an error 

 there? There may be a slight difficiency. It is an 

 estimate that we thought a great deal about. It was 

 estimated at 200 after a great deal of consideration. 



12.523. Yes. but you do not seem to have con- 

 sidered the nianurial value <>f the feeding stuffs r 

 \V,- ,!o not in our munty Ooiuider tb.it very much 

 becan. i.Mit-b.'d by the animal. 



12,5'JI. Mi'. XHII//I : Could you tell me what ibis 

 item of dcprcc : atinn "Two col: 



tli-it mean that you lost two colts- \,,. 



ily mean:- To obtain 

 the depreciation on tin 



I2,"i2f>. Yes? The system is this: on :i n average 

 we put two colt, in the team .nerv \, times 



three nnd these colts this year were valued at 80 

 each. Tile depreciation of the horses I think you will 

 see in '8 eaoh horse. 



12,627. What would you consider the average value 

 of your horses to be? In that part ciilar year thev 



