598 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION G^I. 



1907; fifty plants grew, and of these five were affected with Flag 

 Smut, or 10 per cent., while those clean grains sown alongside re- 

 mained free. In a previous pot experiment with diseased straw, 

 eighteen plants out of thii"ty-five were diseasecl, or 51 per cent. ; and, 

 even when manure was added to the soil from horses which had been 

 fed on diseased hay, there was a small pei'centage of plants affected. 

 The conclusions to be drawn from these experiments are : — 



1. Plants niay be infected by coating seed with spores. 



2. Plants are liable to infection if seed is sown on soil con- 



taining diseased straw of the previous crop. 



3. Plants may become infected if seed is sown on soil con- 



taining manure from horses fed on diseased ha}'. 



Although this paper does not deal with treatment for disease, 

 yet it may he stated that experiments in this direction indicate that 

 a suitable rotation is the best method of prevention. 



In conclusion, I would emphasise the necessity for experiments 

 being conducted by those who have some knowledge of the subjects 

 •dealt with, otherwise the results are apt to be illusoiy and misleading. 

 In a "Report of Experiments conducted at the Mount Templeton School, 

 South Australia," there are some given under the heading of Black 

 Eust or Leaf Smut (Urocystis occulta). This report appeared in the 

 " Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales," and that is my only 

 justification for quoting from it. 



Some remarkable phenomena in connection with these experi- 

 ments were observed, which appear to show that the insertion of 

 Black Rust spores into the flowering head caused the variety of wheat 

 to change. 



" In one case Black Rust spores were inserted into a flowering 

 head of White Tuscan (a bald variety), and the resulting gi-ains .pro- 

 duced plants of wheat, 90 per cent, of which had bearded heads. 



" In another case, when spores of Black Rust had been inserted, 

 the resulting plants were nearly all affected with Loose Smut. 



" As it is known that the spores of these fungi are carried about 

 by the wind at the time when wheat is in flower, it is probable that 

 the infection takes place at this time through the agency of the 

 wind." 



Comment is unnecessary, but it is to be iioped that an association 

 for the advancement of science will so leaven the community with 

 scientific modes of thought that such a report from a scholastic 

 institution, and its publication, would l^e rendered impossible in the 

 future. 



4.— SOME NEGLECTED POINTS TN FEEDING. 

 By HERBERT INGLE, F.R.S.S.A., B.Sc, F.I.C., F.C.S. 



The feeding of domestic animals has long been ^i-ecognised as an 

 important part of the work of the farmer, and, since the application of 

 science to agriculture, has received much attention from investi- 

 gators. 



Many laborious researches have been made Math a view of deter- 

 mining the best and most economical methods of feeding animals, 

 whether intended for labour or for slaughter. 



