8 July, 1907.] lV//cat ami \V Jicat-Brccdiiig. 447 



Medeah was strongly marked in three seedlings, fairlv strong in seven, 

 slightly in four, and very slightly in eight, whilst twelve were not marked ; 

 that is, out of thirty-four different seedlings of the cross Bobs on Medeah 

 twenty-two had traces of Medeah colouring. In the reverse cross, Medeah 

 on Bobs, sixteen out of twenty-two seedlings were marked with Medeah 

 colouring and six were not. Most of the seedlings, in fact almost all, 

 had close or fairly close ears, but where an open-eared variety is used 

 most of the seedlings tend to acquire the same characteristic. The pre- 

 potency of brown or red-chaffed varieties is stronger than the light-chaff 

 varieties, and in the crossing of Tardent's Blue, a velvet chaff", on Tripola, 

 a variety obtained by crossing IMedeah on Polish wheat, the velvet chaff 

 was in evidence in ail the bald seedlings but not in the others ; however 

 in most other cases the velvet chaff predominated, if one of the parents 

 was a velvet-chaff varietv. 



Early Ripening. 

 The ripening of the seedlings varied within several days of each other. 

 Most of them ripened later than Bobs and a few after Medeah. I do not 

 think that either parent dominates to a great extent. There are more 

 individual plants earlier than the later ripening parent than there are after 

 it and there are fewer seedlings that ripen earlier than the early ripening 

 parent thani that ripen after it. Unfortunatelv the hot winds of November 

 frequently spoil these experiments in earlv maturing bv ripening the straw 

 in less than a couple of hours. 



Rust in Whex\t. 



One of the most rust-resistant varieties that I have grown is White Fife 

 from Canada. It does not yield as well as the Purple Straw varieties, 

 but it grows with a fine' clean straw of good length. Most of the wheats 

 suitable to the Northern areas are subject tO' rust, though some are more 

 rust-resistant than others. Bobs was fairly rust-resistant here but in the 

 coastal districts it does not appear to Avithstand the disease. Medeah is also 

 fairly rust-resistant and possibly one or two of the progeny may be also. 

 Whether it is possible to produce a varietv that is absolutely rust-proof 

 is a debatable question. It is possible to produce varieties practically 

 rust-resistant for a district, but the same variety often becomes rustv when 

 grown in another district where the conditions differ. The most rust- 

 pesistant varieties here are those with clean bright straw in which the tex- 

 ture appears close and not spongy. Possibly inherent in every plant 

 there is a power of producing products that act as preservatives against 

 disease and that when the conditions of climate are such that there is a 

 diminution of the natural preservative the disease may begin to assert 

 itself. At times, owing to the favorable conditions for the growth of rust, 

 there is more chance for it making headway, and thus we find rust-resistant 

 varieties more or less attacked bv it. Whether the smooth hard-strawed 

 varieties are less subject to the attacks of rust than the coarse spongy 

 varieties I am not in as good a position to observe as those in places where 

 rust troubles are prevalent. The spontaneity of its attacks would almost 

 make one consider that it was inherent in the plant ot resting in the humus 

 of the soil waiting its chance to throw out the deadly spores. 



Conclusion. 

 Noting from a fairlv long experience here, that over a series of years, 

 the small-grained \arieties are as a rule not so prolific as the larger-grained 



