the bags become moist they would generate heat. I thought you were referring to the moisture contents of the wheat. If the bags are soaked with rain the wheat in them will swell. Once you get moisture you get weevil.

3281. By Hon. F. J. ALLEN : If there is no weevil in a stack when it is built, how do you account for the weevil coming afterwards?—If the wheat is got in dry I think there is every possibility of it remaining so. It is necessary to keep the moisture contents down as much as possible. Once you get moisture and a temperature you will get the weevil.

3282. When wheat is harvested it is damp?—It contains a certain percentage of moisture. Unless you can keep that down to seven of eight degrees of moisture contents the weevil will come in the grain.

3283. By the CHAIRMAN : Do you think it is probable that the authorities in New South Wales will be able to handle these nine million bags so as to escape the rain before they are put into the stacks?—There are so many other considerations which govern these questions. All the wheat that I saw there was covered with tarpaulins. In the country there were coverings on the stacks.

3284. By Hon. J. F. ALLEN : You think that the Railway Department in that State has largely assisted in the protection of the wheat?—Yes; they are supplied with tarpaulins, and these are admirable things for keeping the wheat dry.

3285. What arrangement is made there for protecting the wheat before it is taken to the depots?—it is usual there to have temporary stacks, but previous to this year they had not anything. There is only ordinary dunnage put underneath the temporary stacks. Sometimes they only have them with a roof over the bags at the different sidings, as is the case in Victoria.

3286. The stacks were all roofed as they were built?—Yes.

3287. Greater precautions were taken there than were taken here?—As far as I can say, yes. They were careful about covering their stacks. Of course some of their stacks got wet while being built, but that cannot always be avoided.

3288. The wheat in the wet stacks was more liable to weevil than the other wheat?—Yes.

3289. And that wheat, when shifted to the main depots, was on account of the moisture liable to weevil?—I think so.

3290. You stated that some of the stacks got wet whilst being built?—I was told so.

3291. Because of this wet the wheat received additional moisture, and was therefore more liable to be attacked by weevils?—Yes, with a temperature.

3292. That wheat was removed to the deports at Goulburn or Orange?—Yes.

3293. And though it had received this additional wetting before going to the depot, there was no weevil in the stacks at the depot because they had been treated under Professor Lefroy's methods?—I can only say that I did not see any weevil.

3294. In this State, where these methods have not been adopted, it is not difficult to find weevil?—That is so. I did not see any weevils in the way that we see them here. I did see some weevil at Enfield, which is there weevil depot. That is where they had all the heating machines.

3295. You would not say that the adoption of Professor Lefroy's method of dealing with the weevil at the principal depots has been the means of prohibiting weevil from getting into those stacks?—I would not like to say.

3296. Everything points to that?—I think if we could get a cold climate this would retard the weevil very much.

3297. By Hon. J. F. ALLEN : What do you call a cold climate?—It would be a cold climate at about 2,000ft. above sea level.

3298. You will sometimes get a hot temperature at such points?—It is cold most of the time, and the nights are cold. I think that is why Victoria has not the weevil so badly. They get cold snaps there.

3299. You think that hot days followed by cold nights would be satisfactory as a means of keeping down the weevil?—The cold will undoubtedly keep the weevil down.

3300. By the CHAIRMAN : You think that this particular system is a safeguard against weevil?—Yes, if you get your wheat in dry and keep it dry.

3301. To enable that to be done, it is necessary that the stacks should have proper and efficient attention at the sidings, where is it acquired?—Yes. You must keep the moisture out of the wheat.

3302. The whole thing depends on the handling of the wheat at the acquiring siding?—Yes. So far as this State is concerned we must adopt some means of sterilising our trucks. It is a regular nightmare to me to see the way in which the wheat is handled from one depot to another in trucks that are infested with weevil.

3303. What is done in the Eastern States in regard to the trucks?—they are swept and steamed, and a separate class of truck is used. No attempts are made to deal with this question in South Australia, where the same want of method is noticed as here.

3304. Do you think that the action of the Railway Department in this State has been almost criminal in the way they have handled our wheat?—I think so. It is positively shameful the way they let our wheat stand out in the rain for days together.

3304a. You think the action of the Railway Department here has contributed, to a large extent, to the weevil troubles we have here?—I think so.

3304b. This is provided against in New South Wales by a sufficient supply of tarpaulins?—Yes, they seem to have a large proportion of tarpaulins there. I understand our Railway Department cannot get them, but I do not know why.

3304c. Where there is a will there is a way?—Yes.

3304d. You have been right through the various States?—Yes, but particularly Victoria.

3304e. Can you tell the Commission what is the best system to adopt right through for the temporary storage of wheat?—The first thing to do, with the conditions which obtain now, is to sterilise our trucks. That will cost money but it has to be done. If that is not done all that we can do is to keep the wheat off the ground, and minimise the amount of moisture as much as possible. We have to keep on sterilising the trucks because they are constantly getting weevil into them. Weevilly wheat is sent down to the flour mills and the trucks in which it is conveyed ought to be sterilised before being sent back to the country. It is also necessary to keep the depots dry and free from the old wheat, and free also from infections due to old wheat. It is also necessary to stack the wheat on floors that are wheat-proof. Then, if the wheat is put in dry, there is every prospect of its being kept in good condition for eight or nine months without any weevil.

3304f. Would it not last longer than that?—I do not think so. Wheat seems to absorb so much moisture from the air. When wheat is first harvested it loses weight until about February. After that it gradually absorbs moisture to the extent of about five per cent.

3304g. By Hon. J. F. ALLEN : If there are no weevils in a stack for nine months, where do they come from then?—I put the same question to Professor Lefroy. No one knows where the weevils come from. The professor likened them to the teredo. No one knows where that comes from. You cannot see it in the water. It is like a protoplasm floating about until it finds a resting place on a pile or the bottom of a ship. It them seems to find its natural conditions and begins to grow. It will not grow until it finds itself under those conditions.

3305. By the CHAIRMAN : The first thing to do is to see that the railway trucks are properly clean?—Yes.

3306. And that proper sheds are erected, with sufficient dunnage under the wheat?—Yes. Proper drainage is also necessary. That is very important. That is what we have done in our depots.

3307. It is necessary to see that the wheat is prevented from going through to the ground?—Yes. It is evidently from the ground that these things come in the first instance.

3308. You think, then, that the wheat will hold for at least eight or nine months without being susceptible to weevil?—Yes.

3309. The system of sheds, such as you have here now, is that which has also been adopted in the Eastern