164 



KciVAl. <>MM1>MN OK Ai.ltlri LTl'llK. 



1919.] 



MR. CATKI.I. 





1JI. ->holll\. Mould wllll! yoll have 1 Illlcl 



I. nidi N : 



41-1. Any trm tors > - it. hay mi 



large drills and disc harr.iws 1 havp introduced :i 



ulous llllinlxT ill iinplcin. lu- 

 ll -2. On the whole lire you satishcd with the posi 

 lion as regards yourselves, suhjci-t to your quarrel 

 with labour, if present i your produce keep 



il|:- 1 1 HI- ran get a supply of laliour. 



i Subject to that:- Subject to a supply i.l 

 labour. I think we ought to IN- able tn go on. 



1 1 -I. Subject to tin- supply nl hiliour and it- d.oii -. 

 its duty, you an- satisfied with the position as to the 



you net- It is rather H big term, pi i 

 get. I (liihlile in milk mill tl lat beasts IIOH 



IIIK! again: hut I do not go in tor fattening on 

 -.ale. or selling milk on a hug.- Male. 

 D.I you go in lor -:>!. < air- ^ - 



41*0. You Imv .attle and teed them up- I rear 

 them and sell them us stores. 



11*7. Von do not buy cattle for fattening - No. 



II--. Mi. <.'i.ii: Mav I ask if you an- the author 

 of the hook " A Ten Thousand Acre Kami "I' Yes; 

 joint author. 



ll-H. What \ear did .Major lira-sex lake this ftirm:- 



! think he bought the property in I'XU. 



ll!H>. With regard to tin HM of iigrictiltural 

 machinery and the eonserx-atism of farmers, do you 

 know which year the s,-l| hinder was in use in this 

 . uiintry:-_ Do you mean when it uns first introduced - 



Hill. Yes. when it came in general user \o. I 

 cannot remember. I can remcmhcr as a schoolboy in 

 it was working then. 

 L>. The Americans had it in use in 1-7(1. I 



understand from a Hoard of Agriculture 1 k I was 



rending the other day. that it did not come into use 

 in (his country until |ss.V--| can rememln-r it in 

 I-!!'-' quite well: hut that is ihe lirsi time I ran re- 

 niPinhpr it. 



4193. With regard to the organisation of labour on 

 the farm, do not you think that depends upon the 

 landlord just as much us upon the farmer I mean 

 to say. with respect to adequate buildings:- (Vrtainlv 

 laliour ought to he better housed than it is. 



L I am not talking about the housing of labour 

 T am talking about cowsheds, barns, and so forth; so 

 that you could organise your laliour better if you hud 

 far bettor buildings on the farm-- On the other 

 hand, a tenant need not take the farm unless he is 

 satisfied with the buildings. 



1 1 !'.">. I ipiite understand that. With regard to the 

 inefficiency of laliour. I suppose these older men yon 

 have to-day would be men of about 2O years old" in 



They would l>e young i i then-' ' I mean the 



men from 10 to 65. 



\\-nild it surprise yon to learn that in ilie 

 Hoy a I OominUUOn of I 1 the summary stated that, 

 there were universal complaints about the inefficiency 

 of labour at tl I \\as no! aware of it. 



1107. That is so : because I have been n ading up the 

 pajjes in the Hoyal Commission. You cast some very- 

 serious reflections on the patriotism of agricultural 

 labourers in this country. Would it surprise you to 

 learn that over '200.000 agricultural labourers voliin 

 il to fight for this country r Out of him many;- 1 



- Out of about 700,000:- A third. It Mould 

 surprise me very inuc-li. 



4199. Those are the figures given by a responsible 

 member of the Hoard of Agriculture Probably the. 

 figures are higher than that:-' If so. I should like to 



i' hat I have said. 



4200. You are aware I suppose., that Northampton 

 has IHN-H one of (he lowest paid counties in Kngland 

 KO far ait liiliour is concerned:' I believe it has. 



l'J"il. Do not yon think that would iiu-mini a good 

 denl for the lack of physical efficiency in many 

 labourers in the county at th In what 



connection '- 



1202. They would not IM> so \\ell fed. and their 

 children would not l>e so well nourished in infani x and 

 iK.yhood? -It might. 



4203. That i- a truism. I suppose-: but do not yon 

 think that the industrial itnrcM whirb you speak 

 about and which you attribute large!-, .irs is 



largely accounted for by the fact that during war 



tune, \\lit- --iding to jour e>stin^ i.lu<ft on 



.iats von \\ere puyii.. i day to your lalxit. 



the rue in the price ol oat i : lent.. i 



.iinouiited 10 27s. a week and the riM- in 

 was only .VI per (ent. Do not you think labour ould 

 llaturalix . M'-I:M- hen they loiind you d il 



not raise agcs in anordame \\ith prn - 

 not the only l\i . lung u e had to hn . 



at. Hell, 'lake hinder string, from l-s. to !. 



iLlll. I a^iee. bin I put it l<i you that might be a 

 \erx s.-ii. nis i.ason l.ir industrial unrest among the 

 labourers thi-nuielviw \\heu they hncl their wages do not 

 go iiji in proportion to ihe price you g.it lor your |.io 

 (luce in llllti and I5M7. I am leleiring to tiiosi- par- 

 ticular \eai-: I'rices had not i i-en to that extent. 

 bad they .- 



-' j-.-r cent. l>elore the -'"'-. a u.ek 



in. You state that your farm w a.s in a (ondition of 

 growing through the cottages and a thousand 

 ACm ot rabbit \\arren. As a pnictiial man. in how 

 :n illy y, ars do you e\|M' farm like that into 



an oidiiiiiry profitable condition of n.-rking- That 



loll. 



Tin rritneM: If y-/u will allow me. >u. I should 

 like to retract any injustice I haxe don.- this morning 

 to the agricultural labourer. For llir. I have 



lieen the representative ot the Hoard ol Agriculture 

 on the Northampton and I'eterborough Tribunal, and 

 irom the opinion I formed there 1 thought that labour 

 had been standing hack more than any otln r class, but 

 in view of the figures which Mr. (Ireeii has given me 

 I \vish to retrai i thai >-( ateineni . as I had no actual 

 figure- before me when I made il. and I am .-xii- 

 Orrj it 1 ha\e done any injustice to the agricultural 

 irer. 



<. .l/i. /.'/ ini i /.< : I understood you i,, sii. 

 that your experience \\as obtained outside this 

 com. try? Part of it. 



I'J07. Were you trained originally in tins country 



> - 



1-iN. Dnl ,011 att<-nd any one of the Agricultural 

 ( ollegcs!'- I Has a pupil on Lord Normanton's estates 

 in Hampshire. Dorsetshire, and Wiltshire. 



4:209. You have had no scientific training in agi i 

 culture '- No. 



iL'ld. \ou are in favour "I large farms ^ - 



1211. You make the statement that large farms 

 HI uld produce more: On what- grounds do you make 

 that statement.:*- Did I make that statement 



I'JlL'. Yes. I have a note here of your ansner. and 

 you most distinctly said so. 



Mr. l>iili/i!<: That large farms were more economical. 



CJI3. Mr. Eilinirils : Yes. I quite agree. What did 

 you mean by Siiying that large farms wen- more econo 

 inical :' - -Kecatiw. in the case of a large farm you can 

 employ better machinery, and more machinery, and 

 you i an get over a larger amount of work in a shorter 



IL'J I. Looking at it from the national point of view. 

 I presume you will admit that the important point, is 

 the quantity of produce you can gather out of a 

 gixen area:- Certainly. I agree. 



l-l.'i. Do you think thai your large farm which is 

 a large farm in this par! of the world compares 

 favourably with the smaller farm- as to the total 

 produce you get out of the land- I -i .- no - 

 \<hy the produce should not he increa-.ed. or. at any 

 I.e eipiul on a huge liirni as compared with a 

 small one. 



i.'lli. Does your return per acre compare favourahlx 

 with what we get from the ordinal \ Knulish I:,; 

 I have no means of comparing them. 



I_'I7. What is your total produc;- per acre- The 

 mi-rage of wheat has been .'!-(i:17 quarters per acre in 

 llie last eight year-. 



I'Jl*. 1 find by your balan.-e sheet thai (he total 

 sum in value of your pi.,.li ; . . i,,r the whole of tin 

 liirms lasi year was (.' In '.'_' I - ^ 



l-l!. Your :M- , . I umlei-slaiid- N i 



I -'JO. Naturally, therefore, the produce per 

 only amounts to barely t:i 1U-. pi i- acre- I will lake 

 your figures as correct. 



ll'L'l. Do you reallv mean to tell me that the small 

 I;. liners ol Kngland would be able to lne on a produce 

 SIM h . I havi no method n! coinparisnn. If 



