KOYAL COMMISSION ox AGRICULTURE. 



r.'l'.' 



Hi:. JO. J. Ill 



Illlftl. 



(1) S.,11.1. straw (till unsold. (2) Estimated, not yet 

 all Mild. The figures show ivi.viii as an abnormally 

 good season. The whc.it in.p was good and the 

 -..Id before prices were lixed. Sim-e 

 th. MI the cash balance* have ni>t lieen good, in 1U10-17 

 the wheat crop failed and potatoes did badly; in 

 1917-18 the barley and roots both did badly. 



9. Ih-iluitiiinx nnil ( '<>iiil,i.ti<ni.i. These figures are 

 probably representative of much ol the heavy arable 

 land of" Kngliiud. On hetter-i -lass land the return* 

 would lx< limber and tin- expenditure nu more, often 

 leg*. Hut this better land is limited in extent and 

 would not provide as much foixl as ought to be grown 

 in this country. 



Tho following deductions are drawn: 



(a) The farmer is liabl,- to con-idi ! -able risk of 

 bad yields and had prices from cau-es heyoml 

 his control. It is therefore difficult to draw 

 satisfactory conclusions from the result of 

 one or two years' observations. 

 (f<) Tho risk is much greater with arable hus- 

 bandry (which involves cereals and r. 

 than "with gross and clover. The risk is 

 intensified by the circumstance that the 

 farmer has to pay out the cost of crop pro- 

 duction many months before any return is 

 obtained, and lie has normally no guarantee 

 of price or market. 



(c) The cost of production of arable crops is in- 

 creasing at a much greater rate than the 

 cost of managing grass land, whether tem- 

 porary or permanent. It is unlikely that the 

 farmer will bear the whole of the risk him- 

 self. If arable farming is to continue, it is 

 imperative that some means should be devised 

 for relieving the farmer of some of the risk. 

 (</) The most disquieting feature of the situation 

 is the falling off in efficiency of farm labour. 

 .V larger number of man-hours is now needed 

 than before the war to produce a given 

 amount of crop. Fortunately the most 

 skilled labourers seem to be less affected than 

 the ordinary workers. 

 (e) The situation can be met in my opinion by : 



(1) Arousing the civic conscience both 

 among farmers and workers. 



(2) Improving the methods of farming and 

 distribution and increasing the effi- 

 ciency of the worker. 



Improvements can be and are being made as the 

 result of careful experiments by farmers and investi- 

 gators, and steps arc being taken to develop agricul- 

 tural education. Hut modern science, holds out no 

 hope of any short or easy road to food production or 

 any way round the old injunction " in the sweat of 

 thy face shall thou eat bread." Only by putting 

 honest labour into the soil can auything In- got out 

 of it. You cannot cheat the soil. 



[Thit concludes thr evidencc-in-rh'n/.] 



HH). I'hiiiriinin: You have put ill a ;>;-< : ri.< of your 

 evidence. May I take it as rend without reading it 

 over, merely for the purpose of record? Yes. 



l-l'u I will ask Mr. Smith to begin the questions 

 upon it. 



1890. Mr. Smith : It is stated here that this is an 

 Experimental Station. Does that indicate that the 

 farm is not worked or run on the same lines 

 ordinary farm would lie? No. The fields that I 

 to here are worked on ordinary commcicial 

 lines. I might explain that for tin- purposes; of an 

 agricultural experimental station it is necessary that 

 one should have n CHIN! deal of fresh ground. Coti- 

 unqunntlv we kwp something like 2<KI acres of land, 

 not under ox|M'rimcnt. but worked as an ordinary 

 farm. Tho only effect of having the experimental 

 farm is that we do not always arrange the crops in 

 the best possible way from the. point of view of profit 

 producing, but every single -rop i- piodnccd on 

 strictly commercial linen. 



1821. You nay the crops nre not arranged from the 

 point "of view of profit producing. That would have 

 a material effect on the result, would ';< nut V Not. on 



the results that 1 have pi en \u. It you were going 

 the maximum of profit you would arrange your 

 eiops so that louses on one crop would IKJ 

 i..iiiit-rhidaiieii| by gains on another. 



What class ot land is your farm!' It is heavy 

 .-ecoiid das* land. I should like to make some ex.: 



in that first paragraph in the estimated cost* 

 I I . t KHIS have Ixfoine nN>e8mry 



It ..| the tine spell of weather which has 

 i. ,!,.. ti|Kin us lately. These cost* include the 

 of ham sting, and in fine weather the cost of harvest- 

 ing is much les than in wet weather. The oats have 

 already i. n cut. and as the fin.- weather lasted 

 during the cutting and seems likely to last during the 

 laiting the cost will probably ! reduced from 111. 

 I I, .in- stated here, to tli>. Iii the case of wheat 

 the co-t will probably In' reduced from 115 to Lit. 

 and in the caso of barley pn.bahly from 16tol~>*. 

 Assuming that the fine weather continues and that 

 we have decent weather for threshing, there will be 

 a further 10s. to come off those figures. In the case 

 of clover we start the cutting of the second crop 

 to-day, and it looks as if we shall have fine weather 

 for the making, so that that 7 can be reduced to i 



1823. May I take it that all the other figures are 

 figures of actual expenditure? Yes. 



1824. Mr. l(<i\il>ins : What have you to say as to the 

 relative fertility of the soil to-day as compared with 

 th. lirs't year you give us, 1913-14? Do you think 

 you have drawn on the reserves of fertility in the 

 soil during the series of years you have set out? 

 I think -we have made that good, because we have 

 increased the quantity of manure. I think the land 

 is a little fouler than it was, but I am not prepared 

 to say there is very much in that. 



1825. I see you say : " The situation can be met, in 

 my opinion, by (1) Arousing the civic conscience both 

 among farmers and workers"? Ye. 



182(5. You do credit farmers with having a cons- 

 cience? Yes. 



\-~-21. Mr 1'ni-krr: In your first table, which in 

 headed, " The actual money expended on the crop " 

 you say if you grew an acre of wheat in 1917-18, 

 the amount expended was 10 14s. 3d., and yonr 

 estimated expenditure for tho 1918-19 crop is 15. 

 That you have just rather reduced? Yes. 



1^'Js. Will you bo kind enough to give us tho 

 various items of expenditure that these figures 

 include!' They include the whole of the money paid 

 out for labour, rent, seeds, manure, horse feed every- 

 thing paid out but they do not take any account 

 of the difference in the state of the land at the 

 beginning and the end of the year. 



I *_><). Tli,- t'lminiKin: Is there any livestock? I 

 have eliminated livestock altogether; it is very diffi- 

 cult to bring livestock info these accounts. 



ISiO. Any interest on capital? No, there is no 

 interest on capital. 



1831. Anything for supervision ? Yes, there is an 



allowance for supervision. 



' You do bring that in? Yes), I allow 100 a 



\ear for the supervision of the whole 20O in 



ISL't. Do vou brinj; in rents, rate-, insurance, taxes, 

 and so forth? Yes. 



1S:1I. Manure, artificial and otherwise:- Yes. 



1835. And seeds?- 



Is'lfi. And horsv cultivation? Ye-. 



I SI". Depreciation of machinery used on the farm? 

 Yes. machinery comes in also. 



1SW. And wastage of horse life!- Yes. depreciation 

 on hi, 



!-:',!. l,alx>ur of every sort? Yes, all the labour 

 is brought in. I have here two of the labour sheets 

 from which tlwse statements are drawn up, if you 

 would care to -< e them. 



1S40. It would interest us very mu-h if you would 



, kind as to givo us under general heads the 



expenditure on the farm ap]*>rt ioncd per acre that 



is to say. the total expenditure as you have it here 



ionics' to till Its. :id. for the year UM7-I8, and if 



table on p. 78. 



