42 



ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURE. 



!.' ltctolr, li I'M 



ALLISON, JNH., McNicoL, STEWART, DAVIDSON, MCLAREN. 





what my friend hus stated here. I would say on nn 

 average, including Sunday time, about seven hours. 



14,619. Roughly an hour a dayP An hour a day. 



14,890. What is your experience, Mr. McLaren ? 

 (If r. Jtfr/xirrn) : We do not do much in the horse 

 line; it is meetly shepherding, but where there is 

 any they work just according to the old customs pretty 

 well. 



14.621. On this question of guarantees: supposing 

 iit> guarantee is given do you anticipate that there, 

 will be much in East Lothian, Mr. McNiool, 

 in the arable portions of the county which will go 

 down to grass? (Mr. McXicol) : No, I do not think 

 there will be much. It all depends, of course, upon 

 the events which are to come and which we cannot 

 prophecy. But if prices are reasonable I do not think 

 very much will go down. 



14.622. What do you think will be the position in 

 Fife, Mr. Stewart, if no guaranteed price is given. 

 Will there be much of the arable land in Fife land 

 that you were keeping under the plough in 1914 

 which will go back to grass ? (Mr. Stewart) : I think 

 a certain proportion will. 



14.623. Of land that you were keeping under the 

 plough in 1914? In a great many cases we have 

 increased the arable cultivation. 



14.624. I am not referring to the land brought into 

 cultivation during the stress of the war, but to land 

 which was already under the plough in 1914. Is 

 there any sign of that going back to grass ? In some 

 cases it was only kept under the plough for the pur- 

 pose of producing winter feeding for our stock. 



14.625. You are not anticipating that things are 

 going to be very bad for some years to come, are 

 yon? It all depends on circumstances; we cannot go 

 on producing at a loss. 



14.626. If you are going to feed your stock you will 

 have to keep the plough going? To a certain extent. 

 We require to keep a certain amount of land under 

 the plough for winter feeding. 



14.627. So that any land which is going back now 

 is land that had to be brought under the plough 

 owing to war circumstances? Yes. 



14.628. Are you of opinion that under any circum- 

 stances, even with a guarantee, farmers would have 

 kept that land under the plough? It just depends 

 upon the price we are going to get. 



14.629. Apart from price altogether, is not the risk 

 too great of ploughing most of that upland land? 

 There is a certain amount of risk, but it wholly 

 depends on what you are going to get for your pro- 

 duce. If we are going to get a high price for our 

 grain products certain of the land will be kept under 

 cultivation. If the price falls below the cost of pro- 

 duction the land is bound to go back to grass. 



14.630. The cost of production must be so low as 

 to leave a very large profit on arable land in Scotland 

 before you can bring that third and fourth class land 

 in Scotland under the plough as we have had to do 

 under war stress during the last three or four years? 

 I agree. 



14.631. On this question of rents, and farmers buy- 

 ing land there has been a considerable amount of 

 land in Scotland changing hand and farmers buying 

 it? Yes. 



14.632. If the farmer who is usually forced to buy 

 hi* farm for sentimental reasons, as Mr. McNicol 

 put it, does not buy it, who else is likely to buy it? 

 (Mr. McNicol) : Anyone could buy it. 



14.633. It might be another farmer? It might be; 

 I do not know. 



14.634. In cases where farmers have not bought 

 land for sentimental reasons have their farms l-en 

 bought by speculators? Yes, I think so. 



14.635. So that, although it may be a reply to say 

 that some farmers do buy their land and give more 

 than they think it is really worth because of senti- 



i! riM-ms there are ot), Pr farmers in Scotland 

 and people who have no sentimental reasons govern - 

 iiiK them who are prepnred to pay the high price 

 aaked for th- land? That has happened occasionally. 

 In tome cases there have been no bidders for the farm. 



H.lxKi. 1'uko East Lothian. At what pruv.s have 

 luniia been selling at m r.a-i l.othiau iu> compared 

 with pre-war prices, putting it iuu> terms ot yuan 

 pun Uasu.' 1 really could ni reply U> that <ju 

 ueJiniU'ly. 



14,Uli. 1'ro-war what would have been the usual 

 number oi yours purchase given, lor a tuna in hast 

 Lotinan 16 to '20 years purchase:' Yes, about mat, 



H.'i.iv Vthut have they been selling at recent 

 1 i rally cannot u-ll you. 



1 1,0.1'J. It' 1 put it to you that farms have been 

 ing recently at > years to 3D years pun-h. 

 Lothian should 1 be within the mar*:- .No, 1 think 

 you would be over the mark. 



14,640. I can give you instances of 32 years pur- 

 chase:' Was that by private saler 



H,U41. Yea? I have not heard of it. 



1-1,011'. At any rate they have been paying con- 

 siderably higher prices than they did in pre-war 

 times:" Yes, tho prices have been higher. 



14,613. And according to your own statement the 

 farmers have been paying rather more for their farms 

 than they are really worth:" Yes, in some instances. 



14.644. Would that not rather indicate that them 

 are buyers and farmers who are confident ol what IB 

 going to happen in the future. They are not buying 

 on the pledges of the Government, and of politicians 

 that they are going to do great things for agriculture. 

 However sentimental a farmer may bo ho looks all 

 round tho question before he buys a farm, does he not ? 

 He may be buying it for other reasons. Y T ou know 

 it is very difficult to get a tenancy now ; they are not 

 BO easily got as they were formerly and he may buy 

 to put his son into it. 



14.645. That all shows, does it not, that they have 

 great confidence in the future on the part of farmers 

 in Scotland. If tenancies are difficult to get it does 

 not look as if there were a very great want of confi- 

 dence on the part of those engaged in the industry 



if farmers are forced to buy their farms to prevent 

 other people from buying them and if there ir- M> keen 

 a demand for tenancies that they are difficult to se- 

 cure? It is not farmers in every case who are buying. 



14.646. People who are going in for farming?- Yes. 



14.647. Are you finding that there is a big influx 

 of outsiders coming into farming in Scotland? No. 



I I, i its. It is mostly tho people who are in it now?- 

 Yes, or their sons. 



14.649. All that rather shows, does it not, that there 

 is not any great lack of confidence on the part of the 

 farmers of Scotland as to the future of agriculture!- 1 

 Everyone has hope. 



14.650. Yes, but when hope is turned into hard 

 cash in Scotland it is rather more than a vague aspira- 

 tion. In Fife, I think I might be putting it fairly 

 if I say that the farmers are so little afraid of what 

 is going to happen next year, at any rate that they 

 are now prepared to engage their men at 10 per cent, 

 increase in wages? Yes. 



14.651. That would rather indicate, as regards the 

 next 12 months at any rate, they are fairly hopeful ? 

 Yes. 



(Mr. Stewart): We feel that we have been dealing 

 very generously with our men in comparison with 

 other parts of the country 



14.652. Does it not indicate that you do not believe 

 the cost of living is going down to that extent at 

 any rate, otherwise you would not lie increasing your 

 wages in the meantime? I believe there is a demand 

 for even higher wages. 



14,663. So that the farmers evidently anticipate 

 that the cost of living which does affect the price of 

 their commodities is likely to remain high for some 

 little time? At least for this present season. 



1 !.r,:, i. .MI. /;,I//<M : I want to ask Mr. McNieol one 

 nr two questions. Talking about guarantees, do you 

 realise that if guarantees were to lie perpetuated you 

 would also have a perpetuation of control with it. If 

 you are going to have guarantees from the Govern- 

 ment or the country the country in return will see 

 that you cultivate your land properly ?- 



\i, \ .,;,/,- r, 



14,6-"). You realise that ? Yes, we realise that. 



