'5 



" Mildew," Mr. Geary, of King's Langley, states, " has 

 generally appeared in wet seasons, or when late frosts have 

 been experienced. No blight in 1868, 1869, 1870, 1877, 1886, 

 and 1887, except in the field near to the barberry tree." 



The experience of Mr. Allsop, of East Wellow, Romsey, 

 Hants, is that in seasons of mildew there is always a very bad 

 yield of corn, a very bad sample, a very low price, and very 

 poor weight per bushel. He says, " I am stacking my last field 

 of wheat to-day, and it is the blackest straw, and the worst 

 sample of corn, I have ever seen." 



" Never experienced mildew, except there have been frosts ; 

 but people must rise early to know this," are the observations 

 of Mr. Game, of Bourton-on-the- Water, Gloucestershire. 



Mr. Alfred J. Smith, of Rendlesham, has attributed mildew 

 to game and rabbits keeping the plant backward during the 

 spring, and consequently a very luxuriant growth later on, but 

 he is not convinced of this. 



Mr. C. Lee Campbell, of Glewstone Court, Ross, whose 

 loss was heavy this year, states that his wheat crops were 

 never seriously affected before. 



Writing of his district in Bedfordshire, Mr. Charles Howard 

 remarks : " It is thought that mildew has not affected the wheats 

 so much since 1855." 



" It has generally happened that the wheat has been 

 mildewed when the summer has been dull and cloudy, with a 

 lack of sunshine," writes Mr. Selman, of Chippenham. 



Mr. Kimber's experience is that hitherto mildew has confined 

 its attack at Fyfield Wick to single fields, or parts of fields, and 

 the cause could generally be attributed to some special treatment 

 which the fields had received ; usually to an excessive dressing 

 of nitrogenous manure. He adds : " This season it would 

 appear that on our poor light soils the wheat plants suffered 

 from weakness, and from some cause or other had not suffi- 

 cient strength and vitality to resist the attack of the fungus." 



" If a piece of wheat becomes laid about a month before 

 ripening it has generally become affected by mildew," is the 

 opinion of Mr. Albert Pell ; and Mr. Joseph Martin, of Littleport, 

 has always considered that the appearance of mildew is entirely 

 owing to the weather/and this season has strongly confirmed his 

 previous opinion. 



Mr. Idiens, of Penkridge, Stafford, remarks that he has had 

 a good deal of experience with mildew in former years, and is 

 of opinion that it is sometimes caused by July frosts when the 

 corn is in a milky stage, adding that such would be the case 

 this year. He says "rough chaff wheat is the most liable, 

 particularly if it is shown on a clover ley, and should it happen 

 to be a thin plant in spring, and late in its spring growth, it 

 is very certain to be blighted unless the summer is very dry." - 



The worst attack of mildew within the experience of 

 Messrs. Maiden, of Cardington, Bedford, was in 1879, when they 

 weighed wheat only 49 Ibs. the imperial bushel. They observe": 

 " There is wheat in this country now no better ; but, as it was 



