cannot be utilised in that condition. The fruit has to reach the factory just before it is ripe. (The witness retired.)

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JOHN DENNISON BRATBY, Agricultural Department Inspector of Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs, sworn and examined:

10240. By Mr. CLARKSON: What information can you give us with regard to local markets?—Our markets are a great inconvenience, not only to purchasers, but to anyone in an official capacity. We make an inspection each day of the four markets with a view to detecting any disease which may be present in the produce that is brought there. Frequently we have to turn down stuff which is affected by some infectious disease. We find that the unsettled hours at which the people bring in their stuff is not conducive to a systematic inspection of it, but leads to a casual inspection of the stuff which is there at the time we visit the markets. If central markets were established I presume there would be railway communication with them. This would be a more important factor in Perth than in the Eastern States, for the reason that the majority of the produce brought in to, say, Adelaide or Melbourne, is brought in by road, whereas in Perth most of it comes in by rail. In the Melbourne markets, for instance, only about 10 per cent. of the produce is brought in by Chinese or Greeks, or other nationalities, but here most of the people who bring their produce by road are Chinese and men of other nationalities and very few are Australians or English-speaking people. I am strongly of opinion that the people of our metropolitan area require to be educated in the idea of going to central retail markets. Most of the people seem to avail themselves of the street hawker or the retail greengrocer. This means an added cost because most of the people obtain their goods on credit, whereas if they bought them from a central market they would have to pay cash for them and would get them for so much less. I put in a report in connection with Adelaide wholesale markets, and in connection with the Melbourne wholesale and retail markets. The wholesale markets in Melbourne are opened at 4 o'clock in the morning, but there is often a big business going on at as early as 3 o'clock in the morning. Up to 7 o'clock the wholesale business continues and then begins to clear away, to be replaced by the retail produce that is sold to the ordinary consumer. The Adelaide wholesale markets are in advance of the Victorian markets. Neither of the markets in those cities have any railway communication. That would be necessary in the case of markets in Perth because most of the produce that comes in has to travel a long distance. The contrary is the case in Adelaide and Melbourne. I have not the slightest doubt that the private treaty system is more beneficial than the auction system, but the people would require to be educated up to it. In Melbourne thousands of people go to the markets and purchase their produce at from 20 per cent. to 30 per cent. cheaper than they could do in the suburbs or city shops. Central markets in Perth would greatly facilitate inspection and enable that to be established on a more systematic basis than at present. In the Eastern States it is a custom to have an inspector belonging to the City Council and one belonging to the Agricultural Department, who meet at 4 o'clock in the morning to go through the produce and pass it before it is offered for sale, and also to collect any fees that are necessary. In Melbourne there is an Act in force called the Topping Act, which is designed to prevent producers from placing the best of their stuff on the top of their bags or baskets. This is enforced by both the City Council and the Department of Agriculture. There have been numerous prosecutions, and the fines have ranged from 30s. to £10. It is a very proper measure. Merchants complain most bitterly that the man on the land does to some extent impose upon them, inasmuch as he generally tops off his basket or bag with the very best of his produce. I must say that during the last two or three years there has been a great improvement in that respect, but the system has not been wholly abolished. The man who sends a uniformly good article to the market has to suffer for the man who lends himself to this kind of trickery. We came across a man in Melbourne who had 3cwt. of dirt mixed up with one ton of potatoes. I could quote numerous other instances of this kind of trickery. It is the custom for the man on the land to blame the middleman for the price he gets for his produce, instead of blaming himself to some extent.

10241. Do you conduct any inspection of cereals that come in?—There are no regulations providing for that. In Victoria all produce of that kind is inspected under the Produce Act. Cereals are divided there into three grades—feed, milling, and seed. Upon the payment of a recognised fee a certificate is issued, and in accordance with the denomination of the contents the bags are stamped—seed, with a large "S" in a circle, feed with a large "F," and milling with a large "M." These certificates are certainly unreliable, as we have found from shipments to Western Australia. Merchants have made numerous complaints to the department that the cereals have not come up to the description stated in the certificates. Unfortunately we have no regulation or law here whereby we can assist the merchants in any way, because the cereals are allowed to come into the State without any inspection whatever. There is no doubt that a lot of inferior stuff is allowed to come in. I should like to draw attention to the amount of weeds which come into the State. Many people who have fed their horses with this stuff have complained that their animals have suffered great injuries by reason of the impurities of the grain. This I quite believe. I produce a sample of seed barley, which is so untrue to description that it points to the necessity of the institution of a Pure Seed Act in this State. (Sample produced.) This stuff was sold in Western Australia for seed barley, and I saw some of the same stuff sold down at Bridgetown for that purpose. This is a clean sample compared with some of the oats that have been sent over. The Commonwealth regulations provide against noxious weeds and seed from overseas, but there is no protection provided in the case of the Interstate trade. This makes a pure seed Act all the more necessary. The present conditions constitute a great injustice to the man on the land. He buys these things, not because he is an expert in the business, but because he takes the word of the man who sells the article that it is all right and good. I am extremely interested also in the question of