THE PERIL OF THE WHEAT BELT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3118, 23 June 1917, Page 12

THE PERIL OF THE WHEAT BELT

ALARMING RAVAGES BY MICE IN AUSTRALIA POSITION SERIOUS Sydney, June II). J lie Jtitihva.v CdUimbotoiiers liavu just returned from their aiunial inspection of portion of the Southern Line and branches, awl in their report they make borne interesting references to the mice plague. The jirea covered in tlip inspection includes much of the great wheutproilucing portion of flic State, and. tho quantity on liaml -,it inanv of tln> stations visited Wiw large. Lockhart (station, on tho Oaklitnds branch, has tho highest total, with 800,100 bags. "The condition of a large quantity of this wheat," flie commissioners vcniark, "is (lonlorabta, the smell from decaying bugs in places beiuf; almost overpowering on inspection." Taking tho whole of tho Southern. Line and branches south of Harden, including the.'i'emora to Wj-n----long and Griffith branches (not covered by this inspection), thero were on hand on Juno 2 no fewer than ],l)00,0l!0 bags of old wheat and 6,000,000 bags of new, a, total of 7,000,000 bags at all stations— equal to 21,000,00(1 bushels. Yet durinp; the week ended June 2 only 1"iG,000 bags wero dispatched by rail from all stations. "Unfortunately,, however," continued the commissioners, "it was found that these totals are rapidly diminishing as the result chiefly of the mice plague, together with careless stacking m the first instance, and insufficient covering or protection. Huge stacks have degonerated into slinpeless heaps and jumbled masses. In tho event of a seasonable rainfall the losses must amount to a calamity, and the present appearances warrant the anticipation of a loss of something like 10 per cent., which will never see the seaboard as world food.

"Under instructions from tho Wheat .Board, tho agents are endeavouring to protect the wheat "by what are supposed to be mouse-proof fences. Considerable doubt, however, was expressed at many places as to the efficacy of _ the arrangement; ind.eed, at one station the nuco were eaid'to be as thick insido tho new Btacks as outside. The rate, too, at which the work is being carried out is painfully slow. The few men employed scratch along in a. most leisurely and desultory manner with shovels and kerosene tins, scooping up the grain and filling it into fresh bags, to be subsequently repacked. Meanwhile vast quantities of wlfeat are exposed to the risk of destruction iu the event of 'heavy ra.m. Ihe position is alarming, and should be combated at once in an energetic and comprehensive way, with constant and vigorous inspection; and the only thorough and effective means of conserving the wealth that has been created and is now being gradually lost appears to be to remove the wheat from the infested areas altogether as quickly as .possible. Almost without exception the country wheat agents are of opinion that it would be an advisable course to -take the wheat away from the country. . "Two suggestions worthy of consideration were made to the commissioners. One was that the wheat should be ehitted to Goulburn, where there is a cold climate and no mice, and stacked there, j until required for shipment, ihe Unet Commissioner expressed the readiness of the commissioners to do all they could to assist by providing; necessary stacking sites, and officers are now arranging details of sidings, dunnage, etc. llenty of rolling-stock is available, and the wheat would be shifted as qiiicMras possible. The other suggestion was that the Departmental grain-shed at Brockleeby, which has a good cement floor, be made available and suitable for bulk storage bv the provision of mouse-proof walls! The Chief Commissioner inti, mated that the proposal., would have prompt copsideration, as, if demonstrated to be cn'ectivfi. all grain-sheds in the State, having a total storage capacity ot approximately 7,000,000 bushels could be similarly -utilised, and so help to conserve tho national wealth. "Another phase of this matter, and an important one, is that unless the wheat now stacked at many of the stations is got away within the next few months there will not bo sumcient room to admit of more than a. small portion of next season's crop being stacked in the yards. Something, therefore, should be done at once to relieve the situation in this respect. It may be added that, although at one or two* stations it was stated that a disease had broken out amongst the mice which, it was hoped, would before long exterminate them the general consensus of opinion was that their numbers were not diminishing. It was expected that with a, turn of cold weather there would be a diminution ot the pest, but these expectations are quite problematical. The present and patent fact is that the mice are. there and in millions, and not only in the wheat stacks but out m the country, where they have destroyed many fields of seed wheat."