ORANGE LEAP RUST OF WHEAT. 23 



referred to further on. Sorauer (05, p. 21G) states tluit the uredo myce- 

 lium of ruccinia ,str((minis (/*. rnhigo-reni) winters over without injury. 

 The inference is that the locality he has in mind is some jiortiou of 

 Germany, but whether he means P. (jlnmarum or /'. (lispevsa of Eriksson 

 and Heuuings, and whether the host plant is wheat or rye, is not 

 known. 



LiahHiiy of different varietifs to this rusf. — The study of the compara- 

 tive liability of different wheat varieties to rust has in recent years 

 developed to such an extent that an elaborate paper might be written 

 on this topic alone. To investigate this phase of tlie subject the writer 

 conducted a rather exhaustive series of held experiments during the 

 seasons of 1895, 1S90, and 1S97, and as the orange leaf rust was the 

 one mainly dealt with the question of rust resistance will be discussed 

 at length here. 



At the outset much time was required to learn what varieties are 

 grown in ditferent parts of the world and the sources through which 

 they might be obtained. Efforts co obtain the varieties of each country 

 were begun early in the spring of 1894, but many of tliose from distant 

 parts did not arrive even in time for jjlanting in the autumn of 1895. 

 Peter Henderson & Co., of New York City, agreed to aid in obtaining 

 foreign varieties through their foreign agents. In addition to those 

 obtained in this way, samples were sent in direct by William Farrer, of 

 New South Wales; Prof, E. ]\I. Shelton, of (»>ueensland ; Prof. S. Tanaka, 

 of the Imperial University, Tokyo, Japan; Carter r>ros., of London, 

 England; and ^Ir. IT. Yagnon, Kherba, Clos des Dras, Algeria. In this 

 country and Canada varieties were obtained from the agricultural 

 experiment stations of jMichigan, North Dakota, Nebraska," Kansas, 

 and New Mexico; from Prof. William Saunders, of the Central Experi- 

 mental Farm, Ottawa, Canada; and from Mr. A. N. Jones, of Newark, 

 N. Y. Yarieties were obtained from every important wheat country in 

 the world. The record of experiments shows over 1,1!00 varieties, but 

 of course many of these were duplicates, and about 75 were Farrer's 

 unfixed crossbreds. Notwithstanding this, however, there were cer- 

 tainly over 900 good varieties tested during the three years of exper- 

 iment. A very large number of these varieties, 4G3 in all, came from 

 New Mexico through Prof. A. E. Blount, who has done so much work in 

 breeding wheats, and who has collected a great many varieties from 

 different countries. These were esi)ecially valuable in that tliey included 

 a number of Blount's crossbreds and also many foreign varieties more 

 or less acclimated to this country. 



The experiments of 1895 were conducted at Garrett Park, Md., tliose 

 of 189G at Salina, Kans., and those of 1897 at IManhattan, Kans. The 

 soil at Garrett Park was first treated with a fertilizer commonly used 

 for wheat in that region and composed of South Carolina rock, bone 

 dust, and kainit, the application being made at the rate of 500 pounds 

 per acre while the ground was being harrowed. The different varieties 

 were, as a rule, seeded in single alternate rows, these being 48 feet 



