PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. E43 
Victoria: The damage to wheat was chiefly due to col- 
lapse of the stacks, whilst the hay was rendered unfit for 
consumption by horses, and sown grain was eaten. 
South Australia: As regards the wheat, the grain was 
chewed, the bags riddled, and the wheat fouled with ex- 
ereta and urine, and tainted, whilst the roofs collapsed and 
the wheat was damaged by the weather. In hay stacks the 
grain was eaten out of the hay and the hay tainted. Sown 
grain was reported to have been eaten in some districts, and 
germination of crops was correspondingly thin. 
(7) Rough estimate of financial loss, by percentage of wheat 
destroyed or value and cost of reducing the pest. 
The Victorian Wheat Commission could give no estimate 
of the loss, but the South Australian reply gave a rough 
estimate of 3d. per bushel on the whole crop. The loss on 
some of the worst individual stacks, including cost of re- 
conditioning bags, labour, and damaged and lost grain was 
estimated at 8d. per bushel. 
(8) Means of Combating the Plague—(a) By destruction 
of mice; (b) by protecting Foodstuffs. 
New South Wales: The first action was to protect the 
wheat from the weather, and to effect this, temporary roof- 
ings to replace the collapsed roofs were put on the stacks. 
A fresh site was then prepared, and around this a mouse- 
proof fence of galvanised iron was built, and over the site 
a shed was erected. The wheat was then re-bagged or re- 
conditioned into the mouse-proof area. This method was 
found to be effective provided that reasonable care was 
taken to prevent the mice getting inside the mouse-proof 
fences. Phosphorus paste, applhed on bread and cheese, 
has been found an excellent and safe means of destroying 
the mice. 
