MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



91 



29 October, 1J19.] 



MR. H. G. HOWELL, F.C.A. 



[Continued. 



16.172. You say that the rate of profit rather tends 

 to fall? Yes, as the holdings get bigger. 



16.173. But according to the amount of capital 

 also, do you not? I do not remember saying that. 



16.174. You cannot say whether there is any con- 

 nection between the capital invested and the rate of 

 profit per acre? They do not follow together in 

 any way in these accounts. 



16.175. Mr. Prosser Jones: You told us on a pre- 

 vious occasion that you had sent out 1,000 schedules? 

 1,000 or thereabouts. 



16.176. Have you sent out any since that, or are 

 these returns compiled from those you sent out 

 originally? They are. 



16.177. Less than half responded to your appeal? 

 Yes. 



16.178. The highest proportion is from England? 

 I cannot say what the proportion is, but the largest 

 number is from England. 



16.179. Am I right in saying that you had returns 

 from 40 counties in England, eight in Wales, and 14 in 

 Scotland? Yes. 



16.180. Can you tell us how far the small farms 

 are represented in these figures? I cannot tell you 

 that offhand. 



16.181. There are not many, I assume? Not very 

 many, comparatively speaking. 



16.182. May I take it that the larger farmers are 

 tho people who keep accounts? I think that is so 

 at present. 



16.183. You have shown an average profit from the 

 figures you have gone into of nearly 11 per cent, on 

 all farms? Yes. 



16.184. Have you been able to find out how it is 

 that the profits are less on home farms than they are 

 on tenant farms? No, I think one cannot gather 

 that from a perusal of the accounts only. Of course, 

 there is an absence of commercial incentive in the 

 case of the home farms which is present in the case 

 of tenant farms. That must be a big factor, I should 

 think. 



16.185. Am I right in assuming that in these home 

 farms there are more men knocking about doing 

 nothing than is the case on tenant farms, and does 

 not that account for it to a certain extent? I have 

 no information as to that. 



16.186. Mr. Parkfr: You tell us that with regard 

 to 325 farms the average profit made is 1 7s. 2d.? 

 -Yes. 



16.187. That profit is made up of two elements, 

 the first element being the surplus, if any, of income 

 over expenditure? Yes. 



16.188. The second is th increase, if any, in the 

 closing valuation over the valuation at the beginning 

 of the year? Yes. 



16.189. Except for the increase of the closing 

 valuation over the valuation fit the beginning of the 

 year there was no profit in the case of all these 

 accounts? Taking the whole of the accounts there 

 was no profit except for the difference in the valua- 

 tions. 



16.190. The results you show with regard to the 

 small tenant farm* of one acre up to 100 acres are 

 very interesting. You show that on those farms 

 the capital employed is larger than on the larger 

 farms and that the profit is greater? Yes, that is so. 



16.191. That is in the case of tho tenants? Yes. 

 16,102. Again you show that in the case of the 



owners of small farms from 1 to 100 acres the profit 

 is less and the capital employed is more? If it is in 

 the report I agree. 



16,193. That is a strong argument that ownership 

 Ls not BO advantageous as the system of landlord and 

 tenant? Yes, that might be argued from these 

 figure*. 



16,1.04. Mr. Hmith: Do I understand that all these 

 *<>unU are for the year 1918? -They are for 

 Michaelmas, 1918, or subsequently to that. 



16,195. They cover practically what one may term 

 the farming year of 1918? Yes. 



16.196. Did I understand you to say in reply to 

 Mr. Batchelor that the comparatively good results 

 which are shown here are due to the very favourable 

 year from the point of view of weather and the well 

 gathering in of the harvest? It was stated to be 

 that in many cases. 



16.197. You have no information, I suppose, as to 

 how far that is actually tke case? No. 



16.198. You do not know that it was only those 

 farmers who got an early harvest last year and got 

 their corn up in good condition who were so success- 

 ful, and that those who had a late harvest had to 

 contend with very bad weather indeed? While we 

 had a comparatively large number of replies stating 

 that it was a good harvest, I know in a much smaller 

 number of cases it was stated on the contrary that 

 the results were bad owing to the wet fall and bad 

 harvesting. 



16.199. Do you know that there were instances 

 of corn growing in the field that could not be har- 

 vested? No, I do not know about that. 



16.200. Therefore if it is correct that the year was 

 not a good one from the point of view of harvesting, 

 owing to the very wet weather that came on just at 

 the harvest season, this year would not be exceptional 

 in that respect? If tfiat was the case, no. 



16.201. Is there any information in any of these 

 accounts to show the exact amount of money that 

 lias been invested in farms to constitute capital as 

 a definite investment? 1 am not quite sure that 

 I have your meaning. 



16.202. In ordinary business the capital account 

 represents the money that has actually been invested 

 in the business. I wonder how far that can be ascer- 

 tained so far as farming is concerned. I am rather 

 anxious to know exactly how the amount of the 

 capital is reached whether there is any information 

 which will show us what is actually invested as a 

 cash investment? I cannot say from these figures 

 how much cash is represented. The total figure of 

 capital is made up almost entirely of the total 

 amount of the valuations plus cash at the bank and 

 amounts owing to the farm and sundries like that. 



16.203. I rather gather from these figures that the 

 average profit is higher in Scotland than it is in 

 England and Wales-? Yes, that is so. 



16.204. Is there any explanation of that contained 

 in these accounts which you have submitted? I have 

 tried if I can trace that in the accounts but I have 

 not been able to arrive at any specific causes for 

 that. Generally speaking, the receipts bear a 

 higher ratio to the expenses, as one would naturally 

 expect them to do, than in the case of the English 

 farms, but to no particular item of expense or receipt 

 can I trace the cause. 



16.205. In regard to the accounts you had sub- 

 mitted to you, would they fairly represent the 

 country as a whole so far as areas and districts are 

 concerned? So far as areas are concerned the 

 country would be fairly represented. 



16.206. I suppose you would agree that the varia- 

 tion in soils is such that if the returns were in any 

 way limited or restricted you might get a very false 

 result as compared with the actual position of the 

 country as a whole? You might certainly. It would 

 all depend upon the particular weather conditions of 

 a particular year. 



16.207. And also upon the quality of the soil? 

 Weather conditions would operate differently on 

 different classes of soil. 



16.208. In these farm accounts that you had sub- 

 mitted to you are there any for South Lincolnshire? 

 I believe none. I have tried to ascertain and I 

 cannot find any. 



16.209. That is rather remarkable, is it not, because 

 South Lincolnshire is looked upon as being one of 

 the best farming districts in the country? I would 

 not be certain about it because when I looked through 

 the accounts I did it more from the point of view of 

 the people who had promised in their letters to give 

 evidence, so I will not be certain as to South 

 Lincolnshiie. 



