66 



ROYAL COMMISSION ON AGRICULTURE. 



21 Uctobtr, 1919.] 



MB. A. H. Porrs. 



[Continued. 



15,350. So that you had exceptional facilities for 

 carrying on the system ><>u lm\e Ini-n doing until 



M.ll. 



i '-"! You had lug profits last year? Tho biggect 

 profits I have I>\IT . .11 n. .1 



!"'.. ' :hiit due. t<> tl \r<>|itifinally high 



yedd -It was partly due to it and panK 



due to tho fact that I could nut r-pend UK much on 

 the fanu an I should have liked to do. 



l."i..V>3. Your expenditure was less because you could 

 not get tin. material! vou wanted;' YOB. 



!.">.. V.4. Of cour^-, tin- yield of i urn in tin- north 

 was very good last year P It was the best I have 

 ever known. 



15,3-V). \V<> cannot therefore k>ok up<m that as in 

 any way a normal return? No. 



l~i.3.~><;. Your profit for the previous year, 1917 -, 

 was 35-5, and tin- average profit lor the three pre- 

 vious years i'530 per annum? Yea, all war years. 



15,357. That would be higher than you wonkl 

 estimate in normal times? If I had given you pro- 

 war times it would have been considerably lose than 

 that something round about tho value of the rent. 



15,3-V. With your system what do you say of a 

 guaranteed price being required. Would farms of 

 tho nature of yours go on growing corn on tho 

 chance of getting a fair return without some form 

 of Government guarantee? Yes, I think they would 

 because we have such few things to rely upon on 

 sucb a difficult class of farm ; if we cannot grow 

 corn we can do nothing; it i- :m exceptional < 



15.359. That land would go out of cultivation? 

 It would go into grass. 



15.360. That is what I mean : without a guarantee 

 would you go on growing corn or would the land be 

 laid down to grass? It would be laid down to grass. 

 No different form of arable farming would be taken 

 up. 



15.361. You are not dairying at all you could 

 not grow crops for dairying? -No. 



15.362. 3/r. liatchrlur: How many acres of wheat 

 had you for the period dealt with here? 30 acres. 



15.363. How many acres of oats? 38. 



15.364. The sums received would be for tho full 

 quantity of wheat? Yes. 



- 15,365. With regard to oats, would there be a 

 deduction for what is consumed by the horses? 

 Yes. 



l."i.:t(iii. Would the straw be the whole of the wheat 

 straw and oat straw or did you retain uny? Very 

 little just for a few winter store cattle, to use up 

 the refiiM< stuff of threshing days. 



1~>.3G7. How do you sell your potatoes. and when:' 

 Do you (-ell them immediately you lift them or do 

 you put tin-in into a pit?--I house them some years 

 and some years I sell them straight out of the 

 ground 



]."i .:! -. I)., MIII remember what you did with 

 them this particular year? I housed them and 

 sold them by the bag. 



l"i.. ''.!. Will you look :i( paragraph 2 of j our /.i 

 You calculate that your hedging, fencing, ditching 

 and drainage are in a much worw condition now 

 than they were in 1!>I4? Certainly. 



1.1.370. Is it part of your duty as the tenant to 

 keep those in propel condition "or is it the land- 

 lord's duty? --It is my duty. 



l.").37l. So that the want of labour during the 

 war has pretty much prevented you from keeping 

 them in condition and also the forcing upon you 

 of other cropping?- That is .>. 



J">.37L'. The result is that your profits for this 

 year we are dealing with were, much higher than 

 they would have IKM-II if you had expended all you 

 ought to havo done to keep your land in proper 

 condition ? Very much higher.' 



1. "i.37.'(. Is it your opinion that in the future you 

 will He faced with putting these fences, hedges, 

 diteho* and drains into proper 01 

 doubted ly. 



15,374. So that that will have a tendencv to lower 

 future profit*? That is so. 



>/r <;i,ifl f;l : You carry on, as I under- 

 stand, a class of farming designed to meet the 

 r iron instances of being within five miles of a bie 

 town? Yw. 



15,376. And you have found it profitable? Yes, it 

 il profitable. 



l.'i.'irr. How many men do you employ? Three to 

 four. 



1.V37S. Since the minimum wage has come in and 

 you have had wages fixed for you and the. power of 

 bargaining with your men for your labour taken 

 awav from you. do you anticipate that that s\. 

 of farming will bo unprofitable in tho future? I 

 think that it will get more unprofitable. 



|.'..37!>. Why i-. that- Because I am surrou 

 by seven collieries win-re there is any amount nf 

 employment, and when a man is not satisfied on the 

 farm bo goes to tlie pit. 



1Y380. That is nothing in do with farming? No. 

 II. can command a big price in the collieries and, 

 therefore, we always pay over the minimum wage 

 nothing like the minimum 



15.381. The minimum wage does not affect your 

 class of farming at all? No. 



15.382. You aro perfectly happy to go on as you 

 are- Until tho men's demands become greater, which 

 I thoroughly expect they will do. 



15.383. Then you will" have to stop? Yes. 



15.384. How much above the minimum wages are 

 you paying now ?^I am paying from 45s. to 50s. net 

 wages and perquisites on the top of that. 



15.385. What is tho minimum wage? That does 

 not refer to 1918. I may tell you. Perhaps you wMi 

 to know about 1918? 



15.386. Yes? In 1918 the wages were slightly lower 

 than that. They were 38s. to two guineas. 



16.387. Is that the minimum wage? Let mo get 

 it clear, whichever way it is. \Yhat is the minimum 

 wage you pay on your farm to-day in your district ? 

 I really could not tell you ; we never pay the mini- 

 mum wage, so we arc not interested in it. 



15.388. Do you not know what the minimum wage 

 in your district at the present moment is? I have 

 forgotten really ; that is the truth of the matter. All 

 I know is I a.m paying above the minimum wage at 

 the present time. 



15.389. You do not want the Corn Production Aet 

 either for the protection of the men in your district 

 or for the protection of the farmer. You know the. 

 Corn Production Act provides for a minimum wage 

 to be paid by farmers? Yes. 



H). It also provides that in return for the 

 farmer paying tho minimum wage he shall receive 

 certain guaranteed prices for cereals? Yes. 



15,391. As I understand, for your class of farming 

 neither the minimum wage is "necessary to p 

 the workman, nor is tho guarantee necessary to 

 the farmer? Perhaps that might be so at the 

 moment . but is it the future you are referring to? 



l."i.3!ii'. Yes, that is what I 'want to get from you. 

 At the present moment neither is necessary? At tin- 

 lit I don't think either is necessary. 



1.">.:)!'3. Supposing there were no guaranteed prices 

 of corn, and that the result of tho world's prices by 

 competition were to reduce the price of wheat to 46s. 

 a quarter, could you then go on paying tho present 

 rate of wages and curry on your farm in tho same 



position as you are dcillg nOWf -No. 



15,394. You could not? I do n I would 



be able to do so. 



ML What have you ionic here to tell us' Have 

 you come, here to help us as regards your class 

 of farming:' Is there anything you M 



r? I was asked by th- 



give some figures and account* for my farm. 1 

 knew that I had had a good year and I did not want 

 to refuse to give i! use it was a good vear; 



I wanted to lie perfectly frank and to h 

 then- were spivial fluctuation in my case. 



l.">.3fKi. I i-egaid \nurs us a special sort of farming? 



That iv as simply the solo reason I wanted to . 

 them to you. I have some figures showing some 

 other \ears which an- not so good. 



'7. Your figures do not interest me, but your 

 vi. -MS as a farmer carrying on your system of farm- 

 ing do interest me, hut you have not got ;mv 

 as I understand. Yon are carrying on a special - 

 of farming which is quite common just outside our 

 big towns where you sell everything off, and buy 

 manure from tho town authorities and bring it on 

 your farm? Yes. 



