before the 15th December, storage to be arranged at the mills. The public and the mills should be advised that no transport of flour, bran or pollard will be permitted on the state railways between the 15th December and the 30th April. Supplies sufficient for requirements for the period named could be deposited in small Government depôts established at different townships where there are no mills, and all such supplies should be delivered at such depôts before the 15th December. On delivery of produce ex depôt during the close period (15th December to 30th April ) a declaration should be signed to the effect that the goods will not be carted in any vehicle used for wheat carting. As from the 15th December all railway trucks should be dipped; dipping tanks to be erected and located at convenient centres such as Midland Junction, Northam, Narrogin, Geraldton, etc. When those trucks are being passed through the dipping tanks the railway should avoid crossing rakes of dipped trucks alongside rakes of undipped trucks. We would not confine the railways to the use of any rolling stock for wheat alone, but would allow them to carry coal and any goods of that kind that is not liable to be infected with weevil, No doubt the railways will say that this cannot be done. It would certainly cost money. The Railway Department should as an ordinary business institution submit an estimate for the carrying out of the work and should be recouped for their expenditure at the expense of the Pool. This work can be done by the Railway Department and it would pay to do it. All sites of old wheat stacks should be carefully cleaned. The sites and their environs should be raked and thoroughly disinfected. Newman's weevil destroyer would be a suitable disinfectant, and could as a pre- cautionary measure be used twice if necessary on the same sites. The skeleton shed system at country sidings should be definitely adopted. Depôts for such wheat as is delivered at sidings not suitable for skeleton sheds should be provided for on sites away from the sites of the present depôts. Further improvements could be effected in such depôt sheds in order to minimise the weather exposure. I have pleasure in submitting a statement in reference to those sites at which the erection of skeleton sheds is advisable. (Document produced.) I have prepared an estimate of the quantity likely to be received at all sidings in the State during the coming season, the estimate being based on a 10,000,00 bushel harvest. I find that at 82 of the largest sidings, the erection of skeleton sheds is reasonably practicable. It would mean a total of about 2,000,000 bags to be stored in skeleton sheds, and about 1,300,000 bags to be stored in depôts, the latter from small sidings or sites such as are not suitable for skeleton sheds. I have included some for 17,000 bags. I consider that would be a reasonable quantity to store in skeleton sheds. I would suggest that at a few of these skeleton sheds weatherboard roofs with a steep slope be tried as an experiment. The roof could be given a very large lap of, say, 4ft. to 6ft. over the side of the stack, and in conjunction with this style of skeleton roof weatherboard screens might be tried. The latter would be something after the nature of hurdles about 12ft. long by 6ft. in height. The step slope and projection of the roof, with the adoption of these portable hurdle screens put up against the stacks, would obviate the necessity for any hessian and would be well worth a trial. Such portable wooden screens could be moved to give ready access for patching and for aeration. I consider they would be a splendid protection against the weather. The cost of hessian screening at present would probably be about 1s. 6d. a yard made up. The cost of these weatherboard screens would probably be about 1s. 10d. per square yard, but these screens would not have to run up to the very top, but only from 6ft. to 8ft. from the bottom, so that they would work out cheaper. If the skeleton sheds at sidings were to be ultimately taken over by the co-operative societies the question of the greater residual value of corrugated iron would not enter into the questions. The same system is worth a trial in connection with the depôt sheds, for the ends of the sheds. The weather boarding of the ends, especially the weather end, is worth considering,. Again I find that at the depôt sheds square posts are used and the wheat is stored hard up against these posts. When the wheat settles, many of the bags will be cut against the sharp corners of these posts, and difficulties will occur at the depôts. Round poles can easily be procured in place of square ones. I consulted with a timber man to-day and he quoted for round poles cheaper than square ones. At the depôt sheds, instead of running the lines of rails between the series of sheds, and screening the wheat on both sides of the lines of rails with hessian, another plan is worth consideration. I have gone into this matter, and working out the cost of hessian at about 1s. 6d. a square yard, I find that if the way between the shed was covered with iron the cost would be approximately the same as screening both sides of the stacks with hessian, taking only the bare cost of material and of erection. I have not of course provided for sky lights. The plan suggested would mean that only on the two outer walls would there be any hessian, and this would be a considerable improvement upon the present system. In regard to the skeleton sheds, the extra cost per bushel of raising the floors wagon high, much like the Producers' Union sheds, is worth going into, and if the extra cost were not great, that style of shed would be preferable. The suggestions in regard to what should be done to eliminate the weevil pest may seem at first sight likely to entail heavy costs. On the other hand, however, if one considers the other side of the bill, one is astonished to find how great a saving can be effected in certain directions. Take depôt costs for a start. If you adopt the principle of skeletons sheds for coming season, it eliminates the depot costs in respect of, say, two million bags. The cost of putting the wheat into depots as per Mr Halls statement, is 1⅝d. per bag. Taking loading costs 1d. and re-bagging ⅜d.: that brings the total up to 3d. per bag. The three-eights of a penny per bag for re bagging is Mr. Keys' own figure. He quoted the Commission ⅛d. per bushel. Assume that the small skeleton sheds at the sidings are going to cost us 1d. per bag more than the large depôt sheds would cost, it would still leave a saving of 2d. per bag on two million bags. I think my original estimate of saving of 2¼d. is correct, but taking it at the low estimate of 2d. per bag it works out at about £17,000. I find that up to 31st May nearly three-fourths of the wheat last year was put into and taken out of temporary stack; so that three-fourths of last year's crop will have had four handlings, when it is delivered to a ship or to a mill, and one additional handling will be necessary at a ship's side, viz., five in all. Again, last year there was a tremendous cost in double railage. Take Doodlakine for example. Wheat had to be railed from Doodlakine to Spencer's Brook, and when it comes to be delivered to ship or mill it has to be railed again, say, from Spencer's to Fremantle. That means an increased rate. In previous years, when the wheat was railed direct from Doodlakine to Fremantle, the railage rate was 3½d. per bushel. During the past season the railage from Doodlakine to Spencer's Brook was 2¾d. The railage from Spencer's to Fremantle at present rates will be 2¾d. That makes a total of 5½d. It means that under the past season's system the Doodlakine wheat will cost 2d. per bushel more for railage. I took that place as an instance, because I thought it would be a place which would show a small increase in railage, and not the greatest. I purposely picked them out because I thought they would show a small increase, not a high increase.

7114. You maintain that by having these sheds built at the sidings you can save approximately 5½d. per bag in railage and handling charges ?—More, in many instances. Take Nangeenan. It works out for the 1916-17 season at 3¾d. per bushel; for the 1917-18 season, with double railage, 5¾ d. per bushel. That is 2d. per bushel increase for railage on Nangeenan wheat.

7115. And the saving in handling would work out at about 2d. per bag ?—Yes.

7116. If a shed were built at Nangeenan and the wheat stacked from the farmer's wagon into that shed, it would save 8d. per bag to the farmer as against railing that Nangeenan wheat to the depôt and subsequently re-railing it to mill or ship ?—Yes. The depôt scheme necessitating double railing was adopted, I believe, with a view to eliminating the weevil damage; saving handling charges and providing better care. None of those objects have been achieved and yet the extra cost entailed by that system is tremendous. In addition to that, the zone system of the State was re-adjusted, and the wheat from a number of sidings which formerly went to Geraldton was brought to Spencer's and also some from the Midland line, which formerly went to Geraldton, was brought to Midland Junction. Take for example the Morowa wheat: It was diverted from the