38 



iron solution were used. Mr. Shelton makes the following 

 practical remarks, " So far as work in the wheat field is con- 

 cerned, this subject presents enormous difficulties, among which 

 may be mentioned the enormous extent of the fields, the 

 enormous mass of verdure (often four feet or five feet deep) 

 which marks the wheat growth, and the difficulty in getting 

 machinery over and through this dense vegetable growth 

 without doing great damage to the growing crop." 



In their Report, the Conference of 1892 encourage the con- 

 tinuance of experiments, especially in the direction of spraying. 

 " The statements," they say, " made at the Sydney Conference 

 of 1891, concerning the fatal effect of various fungicides on the 

 germination of the rust spores have been confirmed during the 

 past season, but the difficulties attending the application of 

 fungicides to wheat crops have not been wholly overcome, 

 although progress has been made in this direction, and through 

 the action of the Conference an important addition has been 

 made to the machinery for applying sprays cheaply and on an 

 extensive scale." 



During the last season a series of experiments, having in view 

 the preventioJi of rust in corn crops, were undertaken by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, through the agency of 

 the Division of Vegetable Pathology, in Maryland and Kansas.* 

 There were no less than 700 plots of wheat, oats, rice, and othe r 

 grains under treatment. This work was to some extent preli- 

 minary, and the commencement of a series of careful investiga- 

 tions. It involved tests of soil, seed, manurings, together with 

 spraying trials at varying dates, and with various fungicides. 

 This will be published in the volume of Reports issued by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture for 1892. 



The extremely successful result of an experiment of spraying 

 wheat in France to prevent rust is reported in the " Journal 

 d' Agriculture Pratique" of the 26th January 1893. This was 

 conducted by M. Leon Noirot, cultivator, at Veuxhaules 

 Cote d'Or, France, upon white wheat, ble blanc du pays, sown 

 on the 8th of November 1891, and sprayed on the 28th of May 

 1892. The plot was 80 perches in size. Of this 40 perches 

 were sprayed and 40 perches not sprayed. The solution used 

 for spraying consisted of 4 Ibs. 4 ozs. of sulphate of copper and 

 6 Ibs. 6 ozs. of sulphate of soda, dissolved in 1 7 pints of water. 

 M. Noirot states that the 40 perches that were sprayed yielded 

 8 bushels of wheat, weighing 64 Ibs. per bushel, while the 40 

 perches not sprayed gave only 5^ bushels, weighing only 58 Ibs. 

 per bushel. Upon the sprayed part of the plot the straw was 

 perfectly white ; but upon the unsprayed part it was rusty and 

 all black. Samples of the wheat and straw from both the 

 sprayed and unsprayed parts of this experimental plot can be 

 seen at the Exposition du Palais de 1' Industrie, Paris. 



See Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, Washington, December 1892. 



