160 ON THE RUST OR 



" malady, the following have been particularly 

 "recommended: 1. Cultivating hardy sorts of 

 " wheat ; 2. Early sowing ; 3. Raising early 

 " varieties ; 4. Thick sowing ; 5. Changes of 

 " seed ; 6. Consolidating the soil after sowing ; 

 " 7' Using saline manures ; 8. Improving the 

 " course of crops ; 9. Extirpating all plants that 

 " are receptacles of rust ; and, 10. Protecting 

 " the ears and roots of wheat, by rye, tares, and 

 ** other crops.** 



And again, he says, " It is likewise stated on the 

 *' respectable authority of an eminent naturalist 

 *' (T. A. Knight, Esq.), that by crossing different 

 *' varieties of wheat, a new sort may be produced y 

 *' which will completely escape being rusted, 

 *' though the crops in the neighbourhood, and in 

 " almost every district in the kingdom, may suffer 

 *' from it in the same year. These circumstances 

 " tend to prove, that the rust does not depend 

 " solely on atmospheric influence, otherwise it 

 " could not be prevented by changes of seed, or 

 " by the crossing of different varieties." 



This theory of Mr. Knight's is like many 

 others of his^ grounded on a superficial \iew of 

 things, and is a mere fallacious hypothesis. 



Indeed all these great naturalists appear to 

 have bewildered themselves in specious theory ; 

 and from not having traced the operations of 



