Many seed samples harvested from the 1952-53 sorghum crop in southern Queensland developed considerable mould growth during germination tests. This seriously hampered the work of the Seed Testing Laboratory. Three species of Alternaria predominated, and surface sterilization with 1:1000 mercuric chloride for 20 minutes, followed by washing, failed to eliminate their growth. A series of tests comparing the efficiency of various fungicidal dusts in controlling mould growth were conducted.

Excellent results have been obtained in Queensland from the use of benzene hexachloride as a protection against weevil infestation in seed maize and sorghum. In view of the likelihood of the practice being extended to grain stored for stockfeeding purposes, experiments were planned to determine the effect of feeding BHC upon the quality of eggs and flesh of poultry. In the experiments reported here, two forms of BHC -a commercial dust (12.5 per cent. gamma isomer) and deodorised BHC (99 per cent. gamma isomer) were added to commercial growing and laying mashes at the rates of 5 p.p.m. and 25 p.p.m. gamma isomer. It is concluded that neither commercial BHC nor deodorised BHC should be used to control weevil infestation in grains for poultry feeding.