MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



115 



24 S, 7 ,/,'W,,r, 1919.] 



MR. .1. COSSINS. 



{Continued. 



varied considerably. I think the average was about 

 40 to 45 apiece. You can see by the valuation of 

 the horses if you analyse it. 



12.528. Have you taken the value of the horses 

 ar the average market value of the horses? Yes. 



12.529. Thi> item " Interest on capital value horses. 

 cults,' &c., (18) 1,GOO :> represents their present 

 market value? That represents their market value 

 in that year; they would hay ;>iade t'<at money ,'f 

 I had solii tiiem. 



1-.530. Therefore, you -have allowed for interest on 

 that full amount as part of the cost of vour horses? 



Yfs. 



12.631. J:i regard to your wheat, if this figure 



of cost ill os. 4d. is to i-emaiii your average cost, 



and your ; v -rage yield does not go up, on last year's 



yi, ii oiild be farming at a lorss, would you 



r.i.r:- Xut <iii the wheat. 



12,532. Last year you had a yield much above the 

 average? Thirty-four bushels per .ere. 



I2..").;:i. Yes, but your iverage is 28? Yes, that 

 rage. 



1-.534. On your average yield you would show a 

 io-sr At the controlled price of wheat I think we 

 should. 



12,535. And tin: same as regards barley? The same 

 as regards barley at the controlled price, but of 

 course, we get more than that. 



ft. Thereto: , last year was a very good year 

 lor you in the case of both wheat and barley.' It 

 as above the average. 



;'". Would it be true to say on these figure.s 

 \oii hav.- given us that you would have to maintain 

 that yi Id i:i order to get n. profit on your wheat and 

 !- I think t!i would be much higher 



at Uir |in--'-nt cost of production. 1919 would be 

 much more than 1918. The cost of production of 

 wheat in 1919 would considerably exceed the cost 

 in 1918. 



12,538. Therefore, it does not look as though there 

 much profit on the wheat and Varley? 

 That was my reason for stating the price 

 of 80s. a quarter. 



'!9. Have you been making a profit on the farm? 

 \\ V li.c\ i..-i>n making a profit during the last 

 : years. 



12.540. Is that because vour yield of wheat and 

 barley has been high during that time? That would 

 l.c partly the reason. 



12.541. It would have to be much above your aver- 

 age, would it not? 



12.542. Because you have a deficit of 786 on your 

 alieep which you would have to wipe off before you 

 i-l'otv ii profit? Yes. 



12.543. Mr. NicTiolls : I was not quite clear about 

 your three-horse land. Do yon use three horses to 



i_:le furrow in the ordinary way? No, never 

 three horses, but for two furrows always. Perhaps 

 in stating three-horse land, you took it as one 

 furrow; but it is two furrows. 



12.544. My idea of three-horse land is three horses 

 for a single furrow? Yes. 



12."> (5. I'ut that is not yours? No, that is not 

 mine. 



12.546. I mean that could not really "be considered 

 heavy land? No, it is light land. 



12.547. That alters the whole complexion of it? 

 If 1 led you into a mistake with regard to three-horse 

 land, I meant we use nearly all the implements with 

 three horses, double ploughs, cultivators, drills, drags, 

 binders, and everything cx-pt the mowing machine. 



12..">4- That clears the position on that point. How 

 far do you have to carry your milk to the station? 

 miles six days a week and eight miles on 

 Sunday*. 



12.549. Because I notice von h.ivc down 30s. a week 

 for horse and float, nnd light, cvc . Cl? Not 1 a 

 the 30s. includes the horse, the harness and the 

 float per week. 



12..VA Thxl is right. Then is the light an addi- 



1 1 or is it f'l for the driver. It is under 



nrling of " Cost of production of milk from 



April. 1!>1<>." Is that 1 a week ? 

 ''t is for tlie seven months. 



12.551. That of course wants amplifying, does not 

 't? Yes. If you work it out I think 57 5s. comes 

 alt right. 



12.552. Then the week day for drivers is Is. That 

 is proportionate for the part of the day he is 

 occupied in doing that? I might explain that may 

 be considered very low; but as a matter of fact the 

 milk is delivered by a woman, and has been for the 

 last five, years, and she undertakes the driving of 

 the milk to the station at Is., and 2s. on Sundays. 



12.553. But you have her down under the item "of 

 "Labour, two girls, 23s. a week." She is not one of 

 those girls, is she? No. 



12.554. Do those girls live in? No 



12.555. Are they daughters of some of the farm 

 workers!- Yes. 



12.556. And you pay the men the 35s., which was 

 the scale then in 1918? Yes. 



12.557. And the girls 22s.? Yes. 



12.558. And 4s. for the Sunday? Yes. This is the 

 winter months we are referring to. Those girls were 

 helping then to clean out and prepare and feed the 

 cows and so on. Their time is fully taken up. 



12.559. There is one other very familiar item that 

 comes in some of these, I do not notice it in yours 

 under "Cereal Growing." You have not any item 

 down for bird-scaring. Are there any in your dis- 

 trict? I think you make a little mistake." I have 

 got down bird-scaring on barley; and I can very 

 soon explain to you a system for bird-scaring on 

 wheat. We never put a man or anybody to scare 

 birds off wheat because we always use black cotton 

 and \ve never get any trouble. 



12.560. There is no cost down for cotton? It is a 



\-ry minimum tost. We cotton all our wheat for ] o'- 

 er 1. 



12.561. Mr. Lcnnard: There seems to be some un- 

 certainty about this term (three-horse land). I under- 

 stand you mean by it land that you can plough with 

 a double furrow plough? Yes. 



12.562. By two-horse land, what do you understand ? 

 -By two-horse land I should say two horses in the 



single plough. 



. So that by two-horse land you really mean 

 land which costs more to plough than three-horse land - 

 Yes. 



12.564. Mr. Langford : You said just now in answer 

 to a question that you thought the guarantee to be 

 of service to yourself ought to be 80s. per quarter 

 on wheat? That is the conclusion I have come to 

 since I have been in this room. 



12.565. That is assuming that the costs of produc- 

 tion are no higher than they are to-day? No higher 

 than they were in 1918. 



12,666. Is it your opinion that to create confidence 

 in the farmer, a guarantee must be given over a num- 

 ber of years, or do you think it is only necee.sary to 

 give it from year to year? Under the present con- 

 ditions I should say over a number of years. 



12.567. And not necessarily 80s; but to rise or fall 

 upon the cost of production? That is so. 



12.568. Mr. Prosser Jones: You farm 1,350 acres 

 I think? Yes. 



12.569. Is that typical of the sizes of farms in this 

 county? It is rather more than the average in our 

 county; but the farms are very large in the neigh- 

 bourhood around which I live. 



12.570. This is above the average, is it? It is 



above the average, but some are more. 



12.571. Is it more profitable to work these large 

 farms or to work smaller ones? I consider it much 

 more profitable to farm a large one for this reason, 

 because we have our full staff to do all the work of 

 the farm. We have not to hire. 



12.572. Do you get a better yield per acre? Yes. 



12.573. What number of men do you employ on this 

 farm? At the present time I thiiik we are employ- 

 ing 18 men, 4 boys and 3 women. 



12.574. Do they live on the farm? They live in 

 cottages belonging to the farln. 



1 2,575. Do you see all your men and know them ? 



Yes. every day; and give them orders. 



12.576. Are there any discharged men in your em- 

 ploy? -I may say in order to explain, that previous 

 to the war, or when the war broke out, eight men 



H 2 



