MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



125 



19 August, 1919.] 



SIR THOMAS H. MIDDLETON, K.B.E., O.B. 



{Continued, 



that the average tendency is towards inefficiency. 

 What it would be true to say would be that the 

 average farmer is not highly efficient. That is a mere 

 truism. The highly efficient man usually constitutes 

 say from 5 to 10 per cent, of the whole population. 



3033. But you rather suggest in your evidence that 

 the industry or the results of it are not so good as 

 they might be? That is so. 



3034. Therefore greater efficiency in farming would 

 give better results ? I entirely agree. 



3035. You state that the demand for small holdings 

 will increase, but I think you also stated that the 

 farms of 300 acres and over give better results? 

 1 said that they gave a better result on the average 

 in my opinion than the farm between 100 and 300 ; 

 and I also said, I think, that large farms of, say, 

 500 acres presented greater opportunities for working 

 as an economic unit than the small holdings which 

 the small farmer generally had to take, because one- 

 was able to adapt the number of horses to the precise 

 conditions of the farm. 



3036. If we are to maintain this industry, and it 

 seems to me that is your view, that national interests 

 need the maintenance of agriculture on the tillage 

 plan, is it your opinion that we ought to adopt a 

 policy all round which would give us the best results ? 

 Yes, certainly. 



3037. And therefore that might mean having larger 

 farms ? Yes, it might mean having large farms ; but, 

 in my opinion, and I tried to make it clear, it would 

 be a mistake to concentrate entirely upon large 

 farms. 



3038. Would that depend on the districts and the 

 character of the soil as to how far? Yes. 



3039. You state in the first page of your memo- 

 randum of evidence: " No change in the efficiency 

 of labour is allowed for." Do you expect less 

 efficiency of labour? I have not had much evidence 

 on the point, and if asked my opinion it is this, thai 

 at any rate when things settle down, we ought to 

 expect labour to bo quite as efficient as it was before. 

 I have heard statements that labour is not as efficient 

 as it was before the war. 1 have discussed this 

 question-, with two or three farmers and land 

 owners within the last fortnight. They wero 

 unanimously of the opinion that it was not as 

 efficient; but you will be glad to hear that those 

 farmers wore in Germany and not in this country. 

 What I bring this out for is to show that there is a 

 general feeling all over the combatant nations that the 

 efficiency of labour is not what it was immediately 

 before the war in any class cf society. 



3040. Do you think that view is the result of the 

 difficulty of making proper comparisons; that during 

 the last three years there has been so much of what 

 we might call substituted labour and not the regular 

 trained labour, which ultimately we shall have come 

 back to? There is a great deal in that. 



3041. And that when we get back to the regularly 

 trained lahpur there will be no reduction in efficiency? 



No reduction in efficiency per hour. Of course one 

 must refer to days and hours. I do not know whether 

 you are touching upon that subject. It is barred, I 

 think. 



Chairman: We are not allowed to recommend any 

 period of hours for agricultural labour, but we are 

 allowed to discuss it in relation to the costs of pro- 

 duction. 



3042. Mr. Smith : You state in paragraph 14 : 

 " Much of the farmer's profit is in the improvement 

 of his land "? Yes. that is so. 



3043. Have you any idea as to whether the farmer 

 could have some bettor guarantee in that respect? 

 Have you any idea as to how far a longer guaranteed 

 tenancy might help him in that respect? What I 

 was thinking of was this, that in the course of a 

 lifetime he and hi* successors, even if they 

 continued in the holding, would probably not with- 

 draw the full value in many cases of the money spent 

 in improvements, because the tendency of most farmers 

 is to treat their land, when they have money, 

 ns the hobby on which they spend their money. They 

 improve tlieir land and their stork. 



3044. You would agree it is desirable that that form 

 of tillage should be pursued? Yes. 



3045. Do you think it would be pursued more fullv 

 if the farmers had greater guarantees so far as tenures 

 were concerned? During the past two years there 

 has been a great deal of restlessness because of the 

 large sales of land which have taken place; but before 

 that period of restlessness set in, I cannot say that 

 good farming was prejudiced on the average by the 

 cause to which you refer. 



3046. Have you ever heard of " farming to leave " ? 

 Yes. 



3047. Is that a good system? No, that is a very bad 

 system ; but it is not the highly skilled farmer who 

 adopts that system. He rarely does it twice in the 

 same county. 



3048. With regard to the question of Income Tax, 

 have you any idea how much your suggestion, if it 

 were carried out, would amount to per acre? What 

 1 take it on is on the assessable value. If you take 

 the case I have illustrated here, supposing you had a 

 400 acre farm half in tillage and now rented at 600 

 it would be assessed under Schedule B. at 1,200, 

 apart from the value of the cottages. If one were 

 allowed to deduct a proportion equal to the whole of 

 the area under tillage, you would reduce the assessable 

 value of that farm to 600. That, of course, would 

 mean a very substantial sum per acre. 



3049. In regard to the future of farming, have you 

 formed any opinion as to any other means of eco- 

 nomies or any other facilities that might be provided 

 for the industry which would help it, as, for instance, 

 transport? I have not gone into this general point, 

 because I think the Commission are probably agreed 

 that much could be done to benefit rural areas by 

 increasing transport. 



3050. You think transport could be improved with 

 advantage? Greatly improved. I referred just now 

 to the fact that I had been discussing agricultural 

 questions with German farmers recently. One of the 

 things that struck me when there was the very fine 

 system of electrical trams running everywhere through 

 the area, these trams were used, not only for passenger 

 traffic, but for goods traffic. 



3051. And it provides a speedy method of reaching 

 the market? Yes. 



3052. Which would be an advantage, I suppose, to 

 perishable goods? Yes. 



3053. And also, by taking them closer to the farms, 

 would reduce the cost of cartage of things to the 

 farms? Yes. 



3054. Mr. Rabbin* : In your estimated cost you have 

 taken, I gather, the difference in the actual cash 

 (rages paid in 1914 pre-war, and post-war? Yes. I 

 have stated in the Appendix the rates of wages I have, 

 taken. 



3055. You have made no allowance for the number 

 of hours in respect of which those payments are made ? 

 Yes. What I have done is this. If you will turn 

 to the detailed estimate of the cost of growing wheat 

 and then turn to the next page, you will find notes on 

 how the figures were got. I took the pre-war wage 

 at 18s. a week of six days, and 30s. in harvest time.- 

 The post-war I took at 44s. for 54 days ; 8s. per day, 

 and harvest 10s. per day. 



3056. In that way you have made the allowance for 

 the difference in the hours worked? Yes, I have. I 

 also go into the horse labour pretty fully, because that 

 is one of the serious items. 



3057-8. I think you say somewhere here that you 

 think that a guarantee of 60s. for about five years 

 ahead might possibly secure the maintenance of 

 roughly the area under wheat last year? Yes, 

 roughly that. 



3059. Is not there a tendency with a guarantee of 

 75s. to put the land down to grass? Yes; but you 

 must remember that that guarantee is a one year's 

 guarantee. 



3060. You account for that tendency by the uncer- 

 tainty? Yes; there is all the difference between five 



years ahead and one year ahead. 



3061. May I ask you one- question about your book 

 comparing agriculture in Germany and England? 



