286 



Journal of Agriculture. 



[lo May. 1910. 



Horticultural Gardens the previous season, and while the uninfected seed 

 produced a clean crop, the infected seed yielded 96 per cent, of smutted 

 plants. 



Results of Infection in different varieties of W'lieat. — Pederation was 

 rhosen, as being one which is extensively grown, and in some instances, 

 <:'very plant produced by the infected grain was smutted. For comparison, 

 two other varieties were sown alongside. The one, Ohio, had already 

 ];roved itself to iDe highly smut-resistant as well as very rapid in its 

 germination and the other, Genoa, was taken from a plot grown at the 

 Burnlev Gardens in 1908 and found to be perfectly clean, even althouL'h 

 the seed was dusted with smut spores from both the smooth-spored {T . 

 Levis) and net-spored (T. trifici) species. Only one plant was affected 

 in each of these plots as shown in the following table : — 



R poults of Infection rcitliout Treatment . 



Sown. 



(Jraiiis 

 Genniiiated 



22 Federation 

 28 



Smiit-Viall ill con- 

 tact with each 





74 



70 



.")!i ()}iin 

 .i7 



20 I Genoa 



21 ' 



In two of the plots of Federation wheat, where the grain was sown 

 without artificial infection, there was 8 per cent, of infected plants, so 

 that the wheat to begin with was not perfectly clean. 



Selections from Fye's Crosses. — M.r. Pye, of Do^jkie Agricultural 

 College, has been engaged for a number of years in carrying out extensive 

 ■experiments with the object of securing bunt-resisting wlieats. Numerous 

 varieties and crosses have been tested and during 1908, the only variety 

 found to be absolutelv free, after thorough infection of the seed, was 

 ^ledeah, and cros.ses in which ^ledeah was used as one of the parents, 

 .such as Bobs x Medeah and Bobs x Medeah. He kindl\ sui)i)lied nn- 



Tripola 

 ^\ith samples of each of these, in order to test how far the smut-resistance 

 Avas hereditary. The seed was sown at Donkie, in June, 1908. and the 

 seed obtained from these plots was sown at Burnley in Jui e. 1909. The 

 results are given in the first table on page 287. 



The percentage of lumt varied from 43 to 100 where the seed was 

 infected and onlv in one instance did the uninfected seed show any trace 

 of the disease. Medeah, which was bunt proof at Dookie in 1908. 

 turned out to be quite sus'-eptilile with us in 1909. ha\ing 46.6 per cent, 

 of bunt. 



