372 EXPERIMEA'TAL FARMS 



4-5 EDWARD VII., A. 1905 



WHEAT. 



The past season will be long remembered among tbe farming community, owing 

 to tlie alarming reports prevalent regarding injury to our staple crop from rust. 



As a rule this province is not subject to serious injury from rust in wheat, but the 

 abuadant rains of June and July, accompanied by several close sultry days, was un- 

 usually favourable to the spread of rust, and by August 15 many fields were badly dis- 

 coloured from this cause. Where the injury was only slight, the colour of the straw 

 was dull red, and the grain only slightly shrunken, but in the fields seriously injured, 

 both heads and straw were of a dark brown colour readily distinguishable at a dis- 

 tance, and the kernel badly shrunken. 



The badly injured fields were sometimes scattered among others comparatively 

 free of rust, and often there was no apparent reason for the difference, but excessive 

 growth of straw from any cause appears to encourage the disease. This was par- 

 ticularly noticeable on rank summer-fallow and land heavily manured for root crops. 



Many fields lying under the shelter of belts or bluffs of timber were noticed 

 to be badly affected, possibly for want of a free circulation of air; sheltered hollows 

 also suffered badly, especially if the soil was rich in humus. 



Oil this farm most of the uniform test plots were on sheltered land which had 

 been ploughed early and well summer-fallowed, for this reason the growth of straw 

 was very rank and the injury from rust much greater than on the larger fields more 

 exposed and not so carefully summer-fallowed. 



In the accompanying tables it will be noticed that some varieties are more sub- 

 ject to injury from this cause than others, all velvet headed kinds such as Hayne's 

 Blue Stem were severely injured, while the Macaroni WTieats are comparatively un- 

 injured, the yield large and kernel plump and heavy. 



It will be noticed that a number of the cross-bred varieties are several days earlier 

 than Red Fife, and in districts where there is danger of Red Fife being injured by 

 fall frosts, I would strongly recommend a trial of one of these early ripening kinds. 

 Early Riga is the earliest of all the varieties tested here, but it has not proved as pro- 

 ductive as some of the others. 



Preston Wheat although not as early as Riga, is more productive, and is usually 

 several days earlier than Red Fife, the area sown to this wheat is increasing each 

 year, especially in districts subject to autumn frosts. At present the millers here 

 are paying the same price for Preston Wheat as they are for Red Fife. 



Thirty-six varieties of spring wheat were tested this year, irrespective of Maca- 

 roni Wheat and Spelt. All were sown on May 4 on clay loam soil, summeihfallowed, 

 in plots of one-twentieth acre. All the seed was treated with bluestone and the varie- 

 ties were all free of smut. 



