MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



153 



20 August, 1919.] 



MR. CASTELL WREY. 



[Continued. 



get these figures placed before us a minute or two 

 before the witness appears on the scene, and it cer- 

 tainly is not business, to say the least of it. If we 

 do not have the precis of their evidence before then, 

 we have got to hold it up. I give notice. 



3821. Chairman: May I trouble you, therefore, to 

 begin with the first of these items, which I think is 

 1 (a)? No. 1 (a) is Wheat after Beans, and all the 

 costs of production that I have given cover the actual 

 labour expended on producing the crop. 



3822. Preliminary to that, may I ask if you have 

 any books of account ? Of costings ? 



3823. Yes? Yes. 



3824. These are results from your costings books? 

 Yes. 



3825. Then will you please just explain 1 (n) and 

 its results? The result of this was that the cost pel- 

 acre was 5 5s. 2d., and the cost per quarter was 

 1 7s. 3}d. It includes the actual items of labour, 

 rent, rates, management, interest on machinery. 



3826. What are the items on the left hand side 

 with the dates opposite? That is the date, the 

 number of men employed and the rate they were 

 employed at; the number of boys employed and the 

 rate they were employed at; women and rate; horses 

 and rate; and German prisoners and rate. 



3827. The next statement is 1 (b), I suppose? 

 Yes. 



3828. That is headed "Wheat after Clover"? 

 Yes. 



3829. And the same items of cost, I suppose, re- 

 latively? Yes. 



3830. And the result there is cost per acre 4 

 19s. lid.: per acre, 1 lls. 8d. ? Yes. 



3831. Then the next is 1 (c)? Yes " Spring Oats 

 after old Turf." 



3832. The result there is : Cost per acre, 6 10s. 

 lOd. ; cost per quarter, 6 10s. lOd. ? Yes, they are 

 identical. 



3833. The next is 1 (d)? Yes " Winter Oats after 

 Clover." 



3834. The result there is : Cost per acre, 4 14s. ; 

 and cost per quarter, 16s. 7d.? Yes. 



3835. And your next statement is 1 (e) ? Yes ; that 

 is " Barley after Carrots." 



3836. That is : Cost per acre, 6 5s. lOd. ; and cost 

 per quarter, 1 16s. 6d.? Yes. 



3837. The next is (/) " Mangolds after 

 Ensilage "? Yes. 



3838. Cost per ton? 12s. 7d. per ton; cost per 

 acre, 14 13s. 6d. 



3839. The next is 1 (0) : that is, "Swedes after 

 Carrot failure "? Yes. 



3840. There is no conclusion in regard to that? 

 It is impossible to arrive at the cost of production 

 per ton, because the sheep feed them on the land ; 

 but the cost per acre should have been shown there; 

 I regret that it is not. It is only a matter of 

 dividing the total by 9. 



3841. Generally speaking, do you include interest 

 on capital? No. 



3842. Interest on capital is not there? No. 



3843. Do you include anything for management by 

 the farmer? Yes, management is here; in every case 

 half of the agent's salary and the whole of the bailiff's 

 wages go in as management. 



3844. You put interest on machinery? Yes. 



3845. Is not that a part of the capital? It is; but 

 on a farm of this size it is impossible to make any 

 accurate charge for, say, the use of a binder or the 

 use of a horse hoe or hand-rake, or any small item 

 of that sort, and I lump the whole of the machinery 

 and implements employed on the farm and divide it 

 by the number of acres. 



3846. In the rents, rates, and taxes, is there any- 

 thing for Income Tax? No. 



The Chairman : I will ask Mr. Walker to begin. 



3847. Mr. Walker : I do not propose, Sir William, 

 to deal with those balance-sheets, because I think it 

 is very unfair that we should be asked to deal with 

 them when they are put in front of us at a moment's 

 notice; but I would like to ask Mr. Wrey what he 



means exactly by his statement in paragraph 4 of 

 his main evidence? You mean you have finished with 

 the costings? 



3848. The Chairman : No. This particular member 

 of the Commission is not asking you questions on the 

 costings at the moment, but is beginning to ask 

 you a question with regard to item 4 of your preci$, 

 which is, " The ultra-conservatism and lack of 

 adaptability of the majority of the farming com- 

 munity." He is asking you for the foundation of 

 that statement? Might I suggest that we deal with 

 the costs first while we are at them? I have my 

 papers in order. 



3849. It might be very useful, but Mr. Walker, a 

 member of the Commission, feels that he would like 

 a little more opportunity of looking at the costings 

 before asking questions about them? I have a letter 

 here from my Chief, which I should appreciate very 

 much if you would be good enough to read to the 

 meeting for me. 



3850. If you please. The witness desires me to 

 read this letter. It is from Major Leonard Brassey : 

 " Dear Wrey, I have your telegram, and you are at 

 liberty to use the farm balance sheets for the past 

 eight years in giving evidence before the Agricultural 

 Commission. While I am quite ready to assist the 

 Commission and the farming community with this 

 evidence, I do not desire more publicity than 

 necessary, and in giving your figures I think there 

 are a few facts that should be stated : 1. That the 

 farm expenditure includes no sum whatever for 

 manager's salary or clerical work. 2. That I have 

 received no interest whatever on the capital provided 

 for stocking the farm, &c. 3. That I have spent 

 considerable sums on farm buildings, &c., on which 

 the farm has paid no interest. 4. That a considerable 

 amount of work, such as fencing, roads, and drainage 

 has been done by the Estate for the benefit of the 

 farm, for which the farm has not been charged any- 

 thing. P.S. It may also be well to explain that all 

 the Farm Produce supplied to me has been paid for 

 at full market prices." May I put that on the pro- 

 ceedings of to-day? Yes. 



3851. That is from Major Leonard Brassey, who is 

 the proprietor of the farm of 2,700 acres in respect 

 of which you are giving evidence? Yes. Major 

 Brassey is M.P. for the Peterborough Division. 



3852. Mr. Walker : I want to ask you what you 

 mean exactly *by your statement in paragraph 4 of 

 your main evidence ? By that statement I mean that, 

 although there are very fine examples to the contrary, 

 I consider that the farming community on the whole 

 is ultra-conservative. They will stick to their old- 

 fashioned methods. They do not get the class of 

 machinery which is most economical, and even if 

 they see the machinery they are not kind in adopting 

 it. It takes a great number of years for them to get 

 an idea of any novelty into their heads. In the same 

 way, they do not read papers like the " Journal of 

 the Board of Agriculture " or other scientific works, 

 which they might do with very great advantage to the 

 economic conditions of agriculture, I think. I have 

 one or two small examples here which on a small farm 

 would not make very much difference perhaps - 

 possibly 10 or 15 a year to the farm ; but if the 

 whole of the agricultural community is taken into 

 consideration, I feel certain that it would make a 

 difference of millions. I have an illustration here 

 which I took out of the " Farmer and Stock Breeder " 

 last week, which I should like to circulate. 



3853. You said just now a difference of millions. A 

 difference of millions of what? Of pounds sterling. 



3854. You think, therefore, that there is a great 

 deal of room for improvement so far as our farming 

 as it exists in this country to-day is concerned? Yes, 

 I do. May I continue that statement in paragraph 

 4? 



3855. Yes? The picture that I am circulating there 

 is a picture of a binder being worked on a nice level 

 field. The binder is evidently a 4 feet 9 inches cut, 

 and two horses of the type shown in it are ample to 

 deal with it. The boy, who is riding the chain horse, 

 from the length of leg displayed, I should imagine is 



