24 SCIENCE BULLETIN, No. 11, 



Even more successful as a wheat-breeder was Mr. Richard Marshall, who 

 suffered severely from the depredation of rust and other cereal diseases. He 

 set himself to study the disease and systematically experimented with a 

 large number of varieties obtained from different parts of the world, and 

 by cross-breeding and selection succeeded in producing a considerable number 

 of varieties which completely replaced the wheats hitherto in cultivation. 



Some of the best-known varieties we owe to this investigator are Mar- 

 shall's No. 3, Marshall's Prolific, Silver King, Majestic, &c., and the great 

 popularity of these wheats affords ample testimony to his success. 



A new era may be said to have been introduced in South Australian whcat- 

 growing by these creations of Mr. Marshall, and the older varieties of the 

 Purple Straw, Tuscan and Lammas type almost disappeared to make place 

 for wheats with harder grain and stiff er straw. Moreover, their cultivation 

 enabled the farmer to compete with some measure of success against the 

 ravages of rust. Their high-yielding power helped to make them popular 

 favourites from the start. 



Of the above-mentioned wheats, Marshall's No. 3, Silver King, and 

 Majestic (all extensively grown all over Australia) are derived from Ward's 

 Prolific, being either selected sports from that variety or crossbreds. 



Yaiidilla King, another very favourite wheat, which we owe to Mr. 

 Marshall, is a cross between Yandilla (Farrer) and Silver King (Marshall's), 

 and hence a lineal descendant of Ward's Prolific. It will be seen what 

 an immense debt the Australian wheat-growers are under to the two South 

 Australian farmers, Messrs. Ward and Marshall, 



Other notable varieties obtained by selection from Ward's wheat are 

 Gluyas, Carmichael's Eclipse, and Budd's Early, and these have proved to 

 be of even greater value than the original. 



Probably the most extensively cultivated of all is the selection known as 

 Steinwedel, named after a farmer in Balaklava, South Australia, who 

 originated it. This wheat is extremely prolific and drought resistant, and 

 has been for many years by far the most popular grain-wheat for the drier 

 districts. It is still one of the few non-Farrer wheats recommended for 

 cultivation by the New South Wales Department, though it is now giving 

 place to stronger-flour varieties, and to wheats less liable to shell. 



Other South Australian wheat-breeders who devoted their energy to the 

 production of improved varieties suitable to South Australian conditions are 

 Mr. Inglis, who is the creator of the rust-resistant variety that bears his 

 name, and Mr. Leak, the originator of another "rust -proof wheat." Both 

 these wheats are still widely grown. 



These are the principal varieties we owe to South Australia, and before 

 Mr. Farrer's wheats were created these wheats were grown practically all 

 over Australia. It is no disparagement to them that they are being gradually 

 replaced by varieties which have been more systematically and scientifically 

 bred for special purposes. Many of Farrer's crosses are descendants of one 

 or other of these wheats, and the names of Ward and Marshall are entitled 

 to a very high place in the history of the development of wheat in Australia. 



