5700. Any step he has taken has been in the direction of improving the methods for the protection of the wheat?—Yes, right through. Mr. Sabine has no connection with the depot, but he calls in and we talk over matters.

5701. You have come into with a large number of the farmers in this district?—Yes.

5702. And you have not heard any complaints?—No. The farmers have been rather pleased at the cosy style in which the wheat has been stacked.

5703. Have you have any trouble at all on account of farmers sending in old wheat mixed with the new?—No. Of course it is hard in most cases to tell old wheat from new, but I have had to send parcels of weevilly wheat straight to the mill. There is so very little difference in the quality that is hard to tell whether it is old or new.

5704. Have you had much experience with wheat?—Seven or eight years.

5705. Do you think it advisable that legislation should be introduced to provide for the imposition of a penalty when a farmer sends in old wheat with new?—I certainly do. Such a proceeding is detrimental to the whole stack. When it is put into a truck it is difficult to pick out.

5706. Have you found your wheat?—There has been a little offal and drake in it.

5707. By Mr. BROWN: Were you previously employed by any mercantile firm in connection with the handling of wheat?—Yes, by Dreyfus & Co.

5708. Who appointed you to your present position?—Mr. Keys, so far as I know.

5709. Was the position advertised?—No. I was with Dreyfus & Co., and I went to Mr. Keys and asked him if I could give me a position, and he appointed me this one. I had been with Dreyfus & Co. for eight months.

5710. Were you ever a sub-agent for the Westralian Farmers, Ltd.?— No.

5711. What amount of demurrage has been charged against you this year?—

5712. What is the greatest distance your wheat has to travel to this depot?—Narrambeen is the longest distance; it is 120 miles from here.

5713. In connection with the long dead-end past your stack, is there any necessity for all that railage?—None at all. The points are near the dead-end, and there is just no room enough for the engine and new trucks to go from one line to the other. The dead-end would about 200 yards from the stack.

5714. By Mr. HARRISON: Do they ever use it for shunting purposes?—I do not think they have used it a dozen times this season. The dead-end is absolutely unnecessary; they could push the trucks off one line on to the other.

5715. By Mr. BROWN: What are the haulage charges at your depot?—I do not know, but I think they are 2s. or 2s. 6d.

5716. By Mr. HARRISON: In what part of the State were you receiving wheat before you came to Narrogin?—Meckering, Cunderdin, and Tammin.

5717. Do you find that the quality of the wheat here is the same as that from those places?—Yes, it is equally clean, but I never struck so much drake as in this district.

5718. Do you suffer here from an admixture of oats?—There is very little oats.

5719. Have ravages by mice been severe?—There are mice in these stacks, but they are not very troublesome.

5720. Have you detected any weevil in your stack up to date?—Yes, odd ones.

5721. You consider your stack free from weevil?—Practically. I think the weevil which is there is from the trucks. Anything which has been infested with weevil, I have turned aside and sent direct to the local mill.

5722. Do you consider that aerating the wheat from below would be of advantage to the quality of the wheat, that is, if the wheat has to stand there for any length of time?—It is necessary that the wheat should be high from the ground.

5723. You would recommend that the floors should be higher?—As a matter fact I have done that.

5724. Have you any trouble with regard to labour?—No, except during the two or three days of the strike. I told them off on the Wednesday morning and on the Saturday they were working in full force again.

5725. Were they kept fairly well employed before the strike?—Yes, with the exception of the first week. The men at this depot were well satisfied with their position.

5726. Was your supply of wheat by the railways fairly regular?—Yes. Sometimes we would get an over supply of wheat during two or three days and there would be a little demurrage. On the whole, however, the supply was fairly regular.

5727. Do you think it would be fair proposition for the railways, when over supplying you with wheat, to give you longer time to unload before charging demurrage?— I think they should do so. Our arrangements were that 40 or 50 trucks per day should be supplied, but on some days the number would run up to as many as 80 trucks. Then perhaps there would be none on the next day.

5728. Do the men work here on Saturday afternoon?—They have done so on some occasions.

5729. Do you think that much wheat has been damaged in transit through lack of cover?— I think so.

5730. What quantity do you think would have been saved after re-conditioning if the trucks had been covered?—I cannot say whether it was wet when it was loaded. It would be difficult for me to say whether it was wet while being loaded or whether it got wet in transit. In many cases wheat was dry when loaded, but it got wet in transit. I consider wheat should be covered in transit.

5731. Even in summer?—Yes. There is not so much danger in summer, but we never know when we are going to get showers. Some of the sidings are good way out. The wheat should be covered after March.

5732. Do you think it is absolutely necessary that new season's wheat should be stacked a long distance from the existing stacks?—I do not know that it is necessary to have it a long distance away, but I suppose that if the old stacks were infested the new ones would run a greater risk if they were fairly close.

5733. Do you consider that the presence of weevil in your stacks is due to dirty trucks?—I think so.

5734. Will that not apply the next season?—Yes.

5735. Then would it not be an advantage to have the new stacks a long distance from old ones?—The new stacks would not run the same risk of contamination if they were far away. Any weevil I have found, I have sent the wheat from which it was taken straight to the local mill.

5736. By Mr. BROWN: Would that weevil be in last season's wheat?—This season's wheat. I put it down to wheat from old dumps in the country, wheat which was infested before it was trucked.

5737. Was there a large quantity of that?—I think I have sent about 700 bags to the local mill since I have been here.

5738. Is the mill running three shifts?—I think so.

(The witness retired.)