

14 



Mi: JAMES GAI 



mini. 



time* the inside work run* hort , but you will admit 



11 i> nut tin- mini faulv, iul. t:. i think ho 



oufcht lu bt> |.uid un on-rheud wago, aud take the rough 

 itl> UK- -mouth. 



I tlnnk you ->in ll>-it 



thu lack of Mxurity of u-nuro leads to lew t. 

 Wing employed in agriculture, and o to leaser pro- 

 ducttou '{ Yen. 



lU.y-'J. What is tho sort of average capital mm em- 



ployed, pi-r acre, in Scotland: It varies according t<. 



tho'stylo o! funning which you aro working. I: may 



at the present time from eomcwhere about il-*> 



up to 35. 



12.926. Uo you consider that farms in Scotland arc 

 now under-capitalised owing to the want of eonrity 

 ..I tonuie: lii. capital is there. As I admitted to 

 Mr. Henderson, the farmers have been doing quite 

 wU since the war started; but whether they arc in- 

 vesting the capital in the land as they ought to do 

 in another question. 



12.927. The capital is there. Is that owing to the 

 increase in prices since 1914? Yes, there has 



a certain amount of prosperity in agriculture in 

 land since 1914. 



12.928. The values have risen, and there is more 

 capital in the farms?- I am allowing for that. 



and above that inflation of capital, there has been some 

 extra capital which has come into the business ; but 

 whether it is being invested in the farming industry 

 or not is another question. Those who have bought 

 their farms are of course investing it in their busi 



13.929. I gathered that you were in favour of th. 

 system of landlord and tenant, provided you get the 

 p'roper security of tenure?- N 



12.930. You "are of opinion that the cooperation 

 .-II the landlord and the tenant is good : that is. 



the landlord finding the land and tin- tenant finding 

 the farming capital? Yes, the farming capital: and 

 the landlord finding the permanent equipment. 



12.931. You aro not an advocate of farmers own- 

 ing their own land? I am not. 



12.932. You talked of a ladder. In the case of an 

 occupying owner of, say, 100 acres, if he wants to take 

 200 acres, there is great difficulty, is there not? Yes. 



12.933. It is in the interest of the .small man to 

 i i-n t. say. 100 acres, and if he does well on that to 

 be able t<. take 200 acres? Yes. 



12,931. Whereas if he were an owner he would be 

 tied up with his ownership and perhaps would have 

 to remain a farmer of 100 acres all his life? Yes. 



13.935. There would be no ladder? That is so. 



12.936. I think I gathered, too, that you 



the shorter hours a much more adverse factor than 

 the rate of remuneration ? Up to a limit, yes. 



12.937. l)o I understand from your evidence-in- 

 chief that the Voluntary District Wages Co ..... littee 

 had no difficulty in settling rates of wages? None. 



13,936. It worked very well? It worked very well. 



12.939. And therefore, as far as Scotland is con- 

 d, yon would like to continue that system, and 



not have, I think you call it. the Minimum Wages 

 Committee? Ys. 



19.940. Do you think the Union- are strong enough 

 to make their own bargain for labour? They do. 



12.941. Without the interference of that < 

 mittce? Yes. 



12,9tl>. You talk aUiiit one of the dlfficultlM heing 

 irick It. I understood, in answer to a ijin-s- 



l.< nnard asked yon. you Raid th:.' 

 required mor-- research than could he carried 

 agricultural colleges or experimental farms. Do 

 you think the (iovernnicnt ought to undertake re 

 search nay. in such things as the fixation of nr 



I think in every dire.- 

 i. both in industry and agriculture. 



. important thing, which is 



now .!. mpli-ht-l in Germany, and should be in 

 Kngland. in your opinion'- Yes. 



I2.!MJ. With regard to the (pic*tion <.! 



into plant- and a>< nld you Irn-t, that to the 



.r would you think it a good plan for 



(tovi-rniiieiit to employ the scientific department.- 



lie 1 imornitiwi? Art* you asking mo if the 



(armors nhould carry out these research stations and 



thorn themselves, or work in conjunction with 

 thu t;.. i eminent - 



I 'J. !'!". I had in mind that tin- (.overnment could 

 help the scientific Depai im.-nls ,.l ih.- I imcrs.iuw to 

 ..mi on researches into the diseases ol animals and 

 the impiovriiient ol MX -.Is. \\oiild you ho ill lavoui 

 ..I the (;o\crnmeilt helping the s< -ientilic departments 

 !i that dil. 



1 

 lllldel take the inx. Mllo Mich tllili' 



ious abortion, and the Agrieiiltui . mcnt 



into the iiiiproveiiient of seeds. That is the sort of 

 thing you are advocating Yes. 



17. 1 want to ask you one or two ijiies; 

 ahoiit gain.- I > -<i complar '.eing 



done hy game i> ian hy dc 



we have had ]>i m our members in 



various districts in the last three years which ha\.- 

 been before the Board of Agriculture in th. 

 and pii' In-fore the (;<>\ernmcnt pi Mr. 



Monro's appointment, and since then, of course, the 

 amendments to the (ianie Laws wen- panly 



of oiu ud the putting i P our erid 



We have had evid. \Vc have a body of 



evidence of that kind. 



li'.iUS. Is it damage done by rabbits? In a great 

 nunilier of cases the rabbit was the rors1 otl. . 



I -'.!> 19. Damage done by partridges? Not to the 

 same extent. 



12,950. Any at all? I have not seen many com- 

 plaints in from farmers with regard to partridges, 

 if any. 



12.851. What al.oiit pheasants? We have had some 

 complaints from certain parts of the country from 

 farmers with regard to pheasants and the rearing of 

 pliea-ants: and an excessive amount of game of that 

 kind near cropping areas is very bad for the produc- 

 tion of arable crops. 



12.952. An excessive number of pheasants? Yes. 



12.953. Not pheasants in moderation. You say 

 excessive numbers? Yes. 



ll'.!.>4. Are you aware that the Board of Agriculture 

 during this "year has been investigating which 

 birds are useful and which aro not, and has come to 

 the conclusion that the pheasant is a most useful 

 hirdr I do not know thai I am of the same opinion; 

 but. from experiments, they say so?- ' 



I'J.'.'-Vi. With regard to education. you complain of 

 the lack of it in agriculture. Do yon me.!' 

 education of the tanner himself, or would you extend 

 that education to the laboiirei r To both. 



I'J. !'";. I see you say in your evidence-in-chief that 

 rent has not in' r.-ased since the \ t in a few 



cases. Were the rents in Scotland before the war 

 economic:- Yes, more or less. 



I 'J !!.",;. They had n from the l7!i pel 



Yes. 



1 ".'.")>. C'an you tell me what expenditure pei 

 you consider will bo necessar re the land in 



md to its pre-war fertility: There again it is 

 very difficult, bocau.-e it may vary : o much on dil: 

 farms and different departments of farming. Y'ou 

 have, first of all, tho cleaning of the land and the 

 keeping of the ditches an.' r1 of thing in 



oid.-r. and then you have th. in lertii 



the soil, which is a matt.-r where the money increases 

 at u very much greater rate. They must, necessarily, 

 \aiy very much in different parts of the country, but 

 it must be considerable. 



l'J.!'.Mi. li th, have been making 



Icrable profits during the war owing to high 

 pri-es, a good deal of that will have to go back into 

 tlu> land to restore i pre-war fertility? Those 

 of the farmers who expect to remain on their farms 

 will expend their money and get their farms back 

 into an cllii ieiit state I have no doubt. 



12,960. Have Scotch farmers come to any (onclusion 



at all as to the nature of the guarantee which would 



v them and inilinc them to keep the land under 



the plough and employ more lab">i. >i-. we have 



ih:it pretty generally; and while 

 it in not a matter for U r at all to ask for a 



guarantor, hut it is a matter entirely for th. 

 munity, if the community desires more land under 

 arable culture, wo havo quite free and Rpocifir views 



