June 2, 1908.1 AgriciiUural Gazette of N.S.W. 509 



Macaroni Wheats. 



Further evidence of the (h'ought-resisting character of the macaroni wheats 

 is furnished by a correspondent from Parkes, who writes as follows with 

 reference to a wheat sent for identification, and which proved to be the 

 macaroni variety Medeah : — " I found a few heads in the crop in 1903, and 

 have sown it every year since. I find it is very prolific and stands drought 

 well, especially the hot dry winds in October, when it is ripening." A state- 

 ment like this, supported by similar ones in the past, leaves no doubt as 

 to the value of macaroni wheats for dry conditions. For various reasons 

 these wheats have not appealed to our farmers as they did to the farmers 

 of the arid districts of the United States of America. 



Whilst being drought resistant and suitable for ensilage, they are misuit- 

 able for hay, because of their stiff, harsh beards, which also add to the 

 difficulty of harvesting the grain when ripe. These featin-es considerably 

 lessen the value for our conditions. Chiefly because of these defects, com- 

 bined with the possibility of producing a macaroni variety without beards, 

 the cidtivation of these bearded macaroni varieties has not been pushed 

 as actively as it otherwise would have been. 



Next season it is expected that a limited quantity of a beardless variety 

 (possibly two or three varieties) will be available for distribution amongst 

 farmers. The result of trials with these is awaited with great interest, in 

 order that it may be seen whether the good qualities of this class — the chief 

 of which to us is superior drought resistance — have been retained during- 

 the process of eliminating the undesirable ones. 



Smut in Wheat. 



From inquiries received, it is evident that there are some who still believe 

 that steeping wheat in strong brine is a preventive of smut. It is known 

 that seed so treated has often produced crops free from smut ; but there must 

 have been some cause for freedom from smut other than steeping the seed 

 ill l)rine, for Mr. McAlpine, Pathologist to the Victorian Department of 

 Agriculture, has tried it without success at Port Fairy. 



Steeping in brine is useful if the method adopted is such as affords an 

 opportunity to remove unbroken smut balls, oats, chaff, &c. The removal 

 of the unbroken smut balls is the only factor connected with this treat- 

 ment which will assist in preventing smut, and in this respect it has iu> 

 advantage whatever over steeping in a bluestone solution, and which, in 

 addition, destroys the microscopic spores adhering to the grain; whereas the 

 utmost effect the brine can have in this direction is the mechanical one 

 of washing some of the spores off the grain. 



Instances are still occasionally reported in which the bluestone treatment 

 has failed to act as a preventive of smut. On investigating these cases, it 

 is invariably found that failure is due through neglect to remove the 

 nnbroken smut balls when treating the wheat. The great necessity for 

 treating the seed in such a way that these smut balls can be skimmed off 

 as they float on the surface of the solution is apparent to any intelligent 

 man who considers that in an unbroken bunt ball no larger than a wheat 

 grain there are about 4,000,000 spores, or more than enough to infect, if 

 evenly distributed, every grain in 4 bushels of wheat. 



