58 



ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTUKK. 



1919.] 



THE HON. EDWAKD STKITTT, C.H. 



[Contiminl. 



1327. (<!) The kitualiou ut the mumi-nt bus bovu 

 usj by our having hud one ot tin 



blutuiM ami upringb ever known, at n\ talc 111 the 

 bouth ot England, lor arable cultivation, ihe. land, 

 tm ing to prowure of cropping and shortness ot labour, 

 ha* got into a very bad suite ot cultivation, and there 



ill uo a largo outlay to be made by nearly 

 farmer to bring his laud back into the state in which 

 it a* in 1U14. 



13M. (5) In many districts uluo them is a great 

 want of cottagt* which it in an economic impossibility 

 tor any private person to build at the present time, 

 aud in many cages also a considerable scarcity ot 

 good liirm buildings, suitable for high cultivation. 

 ihu IN probably more [.ie\al. nt in the bouth and East 

 uf Knglund than in the North. 



132V. (0; 1 huvu thought carefully over the best 

 way of putting sonio figures before you, and realise 

 that thu expenditure ot the last year or two is no 

 guide to that of the present time and the immediate 

 future. 1 iiuvu ihcreloi-u come to thu conclusion thut 

 it will be best to show you the average expenses on 

 certain farms and groups of farms for the years 1912, 

 1913 and 11)14. The increase in cost at the present 

 moment, in which we see a tendency to rise rather 

 than to fall, under different headings will show tho 

 Commission the probable cost for the farming year 

 1919-20. 



Taking tho group of farms marked No. 1 which 1 

 am putting forward are under one owner. There are 

 3,600 working acres, mostly fair mixed land, about 

 two-oevonths grass and five-sevenths arable. A large 

 herd of cows are kept. 



Tho cost of every item of expenditure has gone up, 

 some very largely aud others only to a small extent. 

 Th.i first item is rent, interest on buildings, tithe, 

 and land tax. In tho Eastern Counties, where tho . 

 tithe is high, it will be increased by 2s. per acre 

 since the war. 1'he cost of landowner's repairs is at 

 least doubled, aud in fact, at the moment, is more 

 than this, so that another 2s. should be added. So 

 as to put the landowner in the same position as in a 

 pre-war period on a rent of 1 an acre, 20 per cent, 

 should be added to it. Kates have increased slightly, 

 with a probable further increase of, say, 10 to 20 per 

 cent. 



Per cent. 



The cost of Seed increase, say 150 



Manures 100 



Labour 184* 



Threshing ... 150 

 Steam Cultiva- 

 tion 100 



Fuel 100 



Horse Fodder ... 100 



Implements ... 120 



Sundrie* ... 100 



Table No. I. A|,|.nilix III 



As regards wages, I am putting in a statement 

 (marked No. 1 A) showing tho cost of labour for 

 M>ven weeks from tho beginning of Juno for tho 

 year. 1913, 1014, 1915, 101C, 1917, 1918 and 1919. 

 Th<. member* of th<> Commission will *>ce that the 

 in.-rcaw. in this caao is 174-8 per cent, which, 

 boMVir, doe* nut fully reprowjnt the inrreaso of 1919 

 IT, perhaps, some of 1918. Dining these years tin-re 

 have Iwcn thro., tractors employed and two hauling 

 engine* which arc not worked from the farm ilii. 

 bat tho farms are charged so much an acre for the 

 land ploughed, or w> much per ton for the material 

 hauled, and tho hand labour employed on working 

 thm implements must bo added to tho 1919 cost of 

 hand labour. 



So far as one can ee, this will bo an increase of 

 ome 16 to 20 per week. Taking it at 15, it will 

 mak* an additional 105 on the total cost of labour 

 for the wvc-n weeks. This would add !> per cent., 

 making a total of IS! per rent. 



Thiv yon will nWrrr, is higher than the nominal 



inrrenv- in wage* paid \,, tl,,. ngricnltiirnl labourer 



'in thos< farm* in pro-war years the minimum 



wa 16*. This now. in Essex, is 38s. 6d., which 



is an increase of slightly over 150 per cent. The 

 increased cost must be owing to the shortening of the ( 

 hours and the payment oi oveuimo, especially tm-* 

 cowmen and horsemen. Thw will bo further incrcued 

 hy the khortcning of hours on tho 1*1 November in \t 

 and through tho summer of 192U as at present 

 arranged. 



1330-40 (7) (in the other statement marked 

 No. 2 A, Farm A is a light land farm, highly 

 cultivated, of about 1,400 acres, on which liX) cows 

 are kept and a flock of 500 sheep. 



!' I Wfl 2 B) is a rather heavy land farm in 



North Kssex of not very first-rate quality, with an 

 area of about 350 acres. 



C Farm (No. 2 C) U a useful mixed farm of about 

 600 acres with not more than 2H |MT cent, of grass. 

 No cows are kept, but there is a gool deal of other 

 stock. 



The other expenses, apart from labour, would be 

 tho same as on the other group of farms, and a 

 statement is put in showing tlia wages (marked 

 No. 2 I)). The increase in this case, you will sec is 

 not so large, amounting to 158 per cent. 



It will be seen from these figures that, apart from 

 the interest on capital, the increase in exjiense-t with- 

 out taking feeding stuffs into account averages in one 

 case 126 per cent, and in the other 116 per cent. 

 This is on the assumption there is no further increase 

 in expenses of any sort manures, implements, or 

 wages. O.wing to the drought of this summer, the 

 cost of feeding animals will bo very severe this 

 winter, which must add, of course, to tho cost of 

 production. 



You will observe in No. 1 .statement that manure 

 is 9 per cent, of tho expenses in tin. three 

 previous to tho war, and 8 per cent, at prevent for 

 1919. 



Kent, interest on buildings, tithe ami land tax 

 were 16 per cent, in the first period and SJ per cent. 

 at the present time. 



Labour was 42 per cent, in tho first period and 

 53 per cent, in the socond period, and this l>cars, of 

 course, a very large proportion of the cost of working 

 the farm. 



It would seem from these figures that without any 

 increase of expenses at all it would not be easy for 

 tho avora'go land to remain Under cultivation, unless 

 the present prices are maintained, though then, may 

 be some methods of cheapening cultivation which 

 have not yet been put into general practice. .Many 

 think that better education, more scientific farming, 

 more use of artificial manures, more efficient organisa- 

 tion and account keeping, better railway transit, 

 better organisation for buying and selling, and 

 abolition of tho middleman's profits might consider- 

 ably lessen the cost. These no doubt will do some- 

 thing, but unless the expenses fall it will be very 

 difficult to carry on, except on the better class arable 

 lands .which are and will probably be always well 

 cultivated. 



I fear that tho poor, heavy threi>-horsc land* are 

 already doomed to either grass or perhaps lucerne 

 where dry enough. 



1341. (8) I am nlso putting forward a .statement 

 (No. 3) showing cost of wheat for Mils taken from 

 u tillage Ivook which is kept on two of the farms 

 with which I am connected. In reference to i 

 figures the cost of manual laliour in the operations 

 of e e n fi,.|d has been charged \\here\er possible. 

 but tho item of 9s. per acre is charged against each 

 field for sundry expenses, such as fencing and odd 

 jobs which it is impossible (to charge to the. account 

 of any definite field or crop. This charge has IMM-II 

 calculated to meet tho average expenditure of this 

 character. 



As regards horse labour, the total cost of keep and 

 expenditure incidental to maintaining a pair of 

 horses and the implements used by them has been cal- 

 culated, and a daily charge has been made for (.[,, 

 of the horses according to tho time of the year. The 

 Male varies from 8s. per day in the busiest, time to 

 4*. per day, when there is less stress of work. 



