T 7 



sown the same day, the plant was thin, and this has been my 

 experience on former occasions." 



Mr. Clare Sewell Read remarks that late wheats, those 

 thinly planted, and all those growing on peaty soils on 

 low-lying lands, or where the field is surrounded with high 

 hedgerows, and many trees, are more subject to mildew than 

 early wheats with a full plant and growing upon high sound 

 land. " Indeed," he adds, " it is only rarely that upon such 

 soils, unless too heavily manured, that mildew does much 

 damage in this part of Norfolk." 



Mr. Primrose McConnell, of Ongar, Essex, believes that the 

 attacks of mildew may be largely prevented by draining, 

 liming, cutting down the hedges, and the use of mineral manures, 

 so that a flaggy growth may not be induced, and by the growth 

 of red wheat in preference to white. 



Under this head, Mr. Chrisp, of Hawkhill, near Alnwick, 

 writes : " I intended spraying all my wheat last spring by means 

 of the Strawsonizer with hot lime and sulphur, two bushels of 

 the former, and 4 Ibs. of the latter to the acre, as a similar 

 application worked wonders upon turnips the previous summer, 

 but was prevented from carrying out my intention. This appli- 

 cation, together with keeping the plant firm at the root by 

 means of repeated rollings would conduce to its health and 

 power of warding off disease." 



Besides these communications in reply to the questions 

 issued by the Board of Agriculture, others have been re- 

 ceived complaining of the prevalence of mildew, notably in 

 the Midland Counties and the Fen districts. These add to the 

 conviction that the attack of mildew in 1892 was one of the 

 most severe, if not the most severe that has ever been experi- 

 enced in this country. They do not, however, throw any more 

 light upon che cause of the disorder nor upon the conditions in 

 which it appears, spreads, and devastates. 



With regard to these conditions, the only definite consensus of 

 opinion expressed in the answers to the Schedule of questions is 

 that the low temperature in June caused the unprecedented attack. 

 In some cases rust was noticed soon after the unusual frost of the 

 morning of June i3th. In others the intensity of the attack is 

 attributed to the general low temperature at the periods of the 

 blossoming, and of the commencement of the hardening of the 

 grains. No modes of cultivation seem to have made much 

 difference. In respect of the influence of manures, some observers 

 noted that mildew was worse when nitrate of soda had been used. 

 It was also stated by several that wheat after clover ley was more 

 severely affected than wheat after mangels and turnips. This 

 evidence agrees remarkably with the opinion of Sir J. Lawes and 

 Dr. Augustus Voelcker given in extenso later on, that mildew 

 does far more harm to wheat on land having large available 

 supplies of nitrogenous food. And, it must also be remembered, 

 that an unusually large proportion of the wheat this year was 

 put in after clover, as it was impossible to get it in on heavy soils 

 after mangels and swedes, 



74690. B 



