wanted to know if , instead of shunting all those trucks of weevily wheat to the isolated shed , he could brush the bags and put them into the main stacks. Mr.Gillespie said yes. That was done.

6090. By the CHAIRMAN : What stacks are they in ? — In the stacks generally though I really think that C shed was full up at the time. The Westralian Farmers representative told me that he saw a boy brushing the bags while they were in the stack.

6091. If thee is a fair quantity of weevil in that stack it would be seen on the outside of the bags ? — You must remeber that the instrcutions were that the weevil had to be brushed off the nags before the bags went into the stack . 6092.. There has been sufficient time for the weevil to develop.Do you think a brush would take off all the weevil from the bags ? — Pretty well. The season has lent itself to the weevil developing .

6093. By Mr. HARRISON : You were asked whether the sub-agents acquiring wheat had not let you know whether weevily wheat was going through and you said no. Did you report to the centre where the wheat came from that the wheat was weevily when it reached here ? — We reported it to the Westralian Farmers representative and he sent in a statement. I presume his firm informed the sub-agent in the country.

6094. One of your samplers says that there has been a good deal of loss through the trucks not being clean. What became of that wheat ? — It was bagged and put into the sweeping stack , unless it was sent into the main stack.

6095. None has been sent to Dalgety's ? — We have sent some , but I do not know whether it was the particular lot you are referring to.

6096. It was not moved separately ? — No.It was stacked along with the other sweepings . 6097. Have you had a sale of sweepings here ? — Not here. We have sent several lots to Dalgety's.

6098. Do you think if you advertised an auction sale of sweepings a better price could be got for them , and at less cost to the Scheme ? — It is hard to say . 6099.By the CHAIRMAN : Do you think that damp wheat was put into bays 154 and 45 ? — I do not know about 45. It was Miller one of the employees who gave me that number. He said he was positive that wet wheat was stacked there because he saw it . 6100. And with regard to bay 154 , you know that from your own knowledge ? — Yes. (The witness retired )

DANIEL FORRESTER , Officer-in-charge , Spencer's Brook Depot , sworn and examined

6101. By the CHAIRMAN : You are in charge of the receiving of wheat here ? — I have been in charge from the inception.

6102. You are supposed to have full control ? — Yes.

6103. When you were engaged was it the understanding that you were yo have full control ? — Yes, and the only people I had to refer to were Mr.Baxter or Mr.Keys.

6104. Why Mr. Baxter ? — It was the arrangement that I took instructions only from head office.

6105. We noticed that you have in D shed a large quantity of wheat with bags badly torn and eaten by mice. Did they come in in that condition ? — Yes.

6106. Do you think those bags should have been repaired before they left the sidings ? — Certainly. We have lost hundreds of bags of wheat in transit through the wheat escaping from the bags and running out through the trucks. Some bags have reached us with only a bushel of wheat in them.

6107. Some of the bags were damage by water ? — Yes; that has been done in transit or in the stack before the wheat was loaded. Even in fine weather it was coming in in that way . 6108. In regard to the wheat brought in damaged in the railway trucks ; was the damage so bad that the wheat could not be used as f.a.q ? — We had to re-bag it.

6109. I notice you are re-conditioning wheat by hand. Did you ever make application to the Scheme for some other method ? — We tried the winnower , and we could not get the grains of wheat that were tipped away from the f.a.q. The Advisory Board came to the conclusion that it would be better to do it by hand

.

6010. you put the bad stuff in one pile and the f.a.q in another ? — yes . 6111. What do you do with the second grade wheat ? — Stack it by itself . 6112. We have it in evidence that bay 45 was stacked with wheat in a very bad condition . Is that the bay we have just inspected ? — yes . 6113. You have stated in conservation that a portion of that wheat was wet before the roof was put on it ? — The roof was put on in April , and the wheat was stacked in February and march.

6114. What do you do with the wheat when it is wet ? — Stand it up . 6115. You took good care that the wheat which became wet was throughly dry before it was stacked ? — Yes. I have been 12 years stacking wheat , and I know the results of wet wheat going into the stack.

6116. Where were you before you came here ? — At Geraldton , Bunbury , and Fremantle. I was stevedoring.

6117. You have had practical experience? — Yes, ever since the wheat stacks were put up at Geraldton . 6118. We have seen a little weevil in the wheat . Was that weevil present when the wheat came here ? — Anything with weevil in we sent immediately to the flour mills. Every bag is tested on its merits as it comes out to the truck. None of it has gone into the stacks . 6119. Some of the bags on which weevil was found came out of the trucks ? — Yes. So long as the grain in the bags was not pierced we brushed them and then put them into the stack . 6120. We have been told that you brought in here several bags of old wheat which was weevilly. Were you notified by any of the sub-agents that it was weevily wheat ? — No. I have had a letter from the Scheme asking me to be very careful about Pingelly wheat. I have had no information from the sub-agents. Some of them should have been prosecuted for the way in which they sent wheat in . 6121. To find weevil then , it is necessary that the samplers should sample every bag ? — In some instances weevil were crawling all over the trucks . 6122. By Mr. BROWN: Regarding the wheat in the trucks , would the bags have been full when they left the siding ? — Certainly. If the floor of the truck happened to be good my men would be up to their ankles in loose wheat when removing the bags. I have seenin some of these trucks coal , lime,gravel, cement , and everything you could think of . 6123. The sub-agents get 1d. per bag for loading ? — And they do not care what they put into the trucks . 6124. Did you always get the same number of bags as they consigned ? — We re-bagged the wheat and gave them the weight . 6125. If the trucks were badly floored you would lose grain all along the line ? — Yes . 6126.By Mr. HARRISON: The Westralian Farmers Ltd would be debited with any quantity of wheat supposed to be put on the truck and which was not received ? — Certainly.

6127. It was their loss ? — I should think so . 6128. When you received inferior stuff from any siding did you notify that siding ? — The office would do that.

6129. Did you as chief here give instructions to the office to send word to that particular centre ? — There was always a note taken of it , and sent to the office here . 6130. Would they write to the Scheme ? — We would write direct to head office , and they would communicate with the Westralian Farmers. I have complained about the waste in the bags and the quality of the bags . 6131. It was not your business to communicate with the sub-agents ? — I never wrote to a sub-agent . 6132. Do you think the Railway Department should clean the trucks seeing that they charge for freights?— Something will have to be done next season in that direction. The only clean trucks we have here are those which we clean out ourselves . 6133. Do you keep a tally of the numbers of the trucks which bring in wheat which is damaged ? — Yes, and the date the wheat was loaded and unloaded . 6134. Have you had much demurrage at this centre ? — During the time of the strike it came to £1,100 , but I think the Railway Department have