67

C—l 2.

K. PARKER.

four years ago. He had dug for three months, and made Bs. or 9s. per day. The gumfields generally about Mangawai were payable, and he quite agreed that there was no need for any one to be unemployed in the district when digging was so profitable. To Mr. Hebden.] The class of gum obtained about was considered some of the best, the average price of three-quarter (unscraped) bringing as much as £8. To Mr. Greville.] He had only a partial knowdedge of the swamp on the lower side of the Coal Hill field (Mangawai Reserve), but from what he knew regarded it as a rich field. He was of opinion that it would be beneficial to the diggers as a whole to have the swamp drained. He had never dug on the Pakiri Reserve. Eric Black, Farmer, of Mangawai. To Mr. Greville.] He was farming about 1,030 acres joining the Coal Hill Reserve, and went in mostly for cattle-fattening. Part of his property was bounded on the north by the Coal Hill field, and he had drained some of his land as a cost of £1 2s. 6d. per chain. The work was. done by Austrians, but he had had no arrangement with them regarding any gum that might be found when digging the drain. As a matter of fact, he knew they obtained no gum from the drain. Spearing was tried, but the only indications of gum were some colour along the sandhills end of drain. He was quite certain that in the portion of his swamp referred to there was no gum up to 6 ft. deep. No levels were taken at the time, and he could not say what the fall might be. The velocity in the main drain might be three miles an hour. He did not think that the swamp in the Coal Hill Reserve joining his boundary contained any gum, and the quality of the land was, in his opinion, poorer than the drained swamp on his holding. So far as he could judge the tendency of the swamp was to depreciate in quality as it went north, but all of it could be brought into cultivation if drained. The carrying-capacity of his flat land would be one cattle beast to 3 acres. He had previously farmed in the Poverty Bay district, the Forty-mile Bush, also in Marlborough and Canterbury. In country capable of carrying two sheep to the acre he thought that a farmer could make a profit of from £1 ss. to £1 10s. per acre, under present conditions. To Mr. Stafford.] The Austrians who carried out the drainage-works on his holding were paid so-much per day. They speared, but found only logs. To Mr. Hebden.] Only small quantities of gum had been found on his land. Experienced diggers had speared down to 12 ft, in parts, but discovered nothing worth speaking about. To Mr. Greville.] He knew Sellwood's 700-acre sectiou, having ridden through it at different times. It ran about twelve sheep -and six head of cattle. Gum-digging was going on over it, some of it on a royalty basis. There were other two neighbours who oyvned between them about 1,100 acres, and carrying altogether about twenty head of stock (sheep and cattle). It was land that he considered would carry one sheep to the acre if cultivated. The owners were old settlers of twenty years' standing, who made their living by gum-digging. He quite thought that some restrictions should be put on persons owning biggish areas of land and making a living at gum-digging. He could not agree with a former witness's statement in regard to digging iii the middle of the swamp on the south side of the Coal Hill Reserve. His house was on a hill overlooking the swamp, and he had never seen any digger at work there. ANDREyv Vuscko, Gum-digger, of Mangawai. To Mr. Greville.] He had been a digger for ten years, and was camped at present on the Coal Hill Reserve. He had dug on the swamp at the south side of the field, but found it too wet to continue. Ho had speared there, and found gum all over the swamp from 6 ft. to 15 ft. deep. He was sure there were valuable patches of gum in that part. It would pay to dig that swamp on the face, and he would deal with it in that manner if the land belonged to him. The gum in Black's swamp would be down as low as 15 ft. When he dug on royalty on Campbell's land it was part of the agreement that potholes should be filled in, but that was not a very difficult thing to do. Had dug on the Mangawai Reserves for four years, and made good wages — averaging from £10 to £20 per month. He considered that good men could make good wages at the work. It generally took a beginner a month getting into practice before doing much. He was of opinion that the gumfields around Mangawai would give five hundred men a living at the price of gum now. To Mr. Stafford.] The depth of gum on the Molesworth Reserve was as much as 20 ft. in places. Had speared chalk gum there himself 18 ft. down, and known as much as sixteen sacks a day having been got on the reserve by spearing. Robert Hastie, Farmer, of Mangawai. To Mr. Greville.] He farmed a holding of 1,000 acres adjacent to the Mangawai No. 4 Reserve. A large part of it was grassed, and he grazed ninety head of cattle, sixty sheep, besides several horses. The Mangawai No. 4 Reserve was being dug over, and he regarded it as still a, good field. He had handled land similar in quality to what was on. the reserve, and his experience went to show that the so-called poor land could be "brought in'" successfully. His treatment had been to plough and cross-plough and to fallow the land for about twelve months. On part he had sowed grass right away, and elsewhere had cropped first and grassed afterwards. On one patch he had tried potatoes after treating the soil to special potato-manures, and the yield was 10 tons to the acre. Generally after cropping he sowed turnips, and later English grasses, after top-dressing with basic slag, and the best results had been obtained. His own land was similar and even poorer in parts than the gum reserve adjoining, which he quite thought could all be brought into profitable occupation. He had a theory that the stiff gum lands could