81 



Mr. Rust who has spent his entire life on the farm, and has kept a con- 

 tinuous farm diary for over a quarter of a century states that on one 

 part of his farm the crops had never yet been seriously attacked by rust, 

 that rust had, in fact, very seldom so much as appeared on this part of 

 his lands, and that, during seasons when most of his crops had been com- 

 pletely ravaged, the cereal crops in this particular locality had enjoyed 

 entire immunity from the pest. The existence of such patches of land- 

 where rust seldom or never appears, and where the crops, if attacked, 

 suffer no serious damage has not yet been satisfactorily explained. In 

 many of these cases, such as that under immediate discussion, the chlorides 

 have been found to be rather high ; in others, the soil has appeared to be 

 of an all-round better quality than the average. Of the samples of soil 

 collected on this farm, one No. 16 on the above list was taken from 

 lands that had been attacked by rust season after season, and the crops 

 destroyed; another sample No. 17 was taken from the rust-proof 

 locality above mentioned. In this ca.se it was noticeable that the under- 

 lying formation was largely calcareous. Both these samples were pro- 

 cured from lands which had been treated with horse and sheep manure. 

 The third sample taken from this farm, No. 18, represents a virgin soil 

 corresponding in nature to No. 16. 



Journeying about four miles in a westerly direction from Witked, the 

 farm Olifants Kuil was touched at, and sample No. 19 taken. On this 

 farm, it was said, rust had for the previous six or seven years effected a 

 considerable amount of damage. From a spot three miles north-west of 

 this, on the farm Geel Kuil the southern part of the farm formerly bear- 

 ing that name another sample was taken, and then the northern portion 

 of the old farm, now called New Rush, was visited : here three samples 

 were collected. No, 21 was a sample of virgin soil, but Nos. 22 and 23 

 were both taken from ground that had been under cultivation for twelve 

 years : of these two, the former represents the top of a hill where rust has 

 occasionally made its appearance, but has never done much hairm to the 

 crops, while the latter was taken from a low-lying valley, a situation evi- 

 dently much more subject to damp than that of the previous sample. As 

 a matter of fact the field whence the last soil was taken is frequently 

 visited by rust, which at that spot does considerable harm to the crop; 

 nor can this excite much wonder when the situation is borne in mind. 



Turning now the north-east, a sample of soil was obtained at a dia- 

 tance of four miles from the last nearly five miles W.S.W. of Moorreea- 

 burg village, and 21 miles N.N.W. of Malmesbury on the farm Schildpad 

 Vallei. Here, as in a few former instances, a visitation of rust rarely 

 occurs, and, when it does take place, effects comparatively little harm. 

 The next soil, No. 25, was collected on the farm Hooi Kraal, from a point 

 rather less than two miles to the north of Moorreesburg. 



On the way back to Malmesbury, a sample, No. 26, was collected from 

 the farm Zwartfontein, about 2J miles south-east of Moorreesburg, another 

 from the farm Vogelstruisfontein, otherwise known as Drie Heuvel, nearly 

 5| miles south of Moorreesburg, and 16 miles north of Malmesbury. Two 

 samples were then collected on the farm Klein Zoutfontein, at distances 

 respectively 3J and 4 miles south-east of the spot where the previous 

 sample waa procured. The last sample of this tour was taken on the farm 

 Zoutfontein, nearly ten miles due north of Malmesbury. 



On a subsequent journey the first farm visited after leaving Malmea- 

 bury was Bloemendalsfontein, about 6 \ miles north-west of the village : 

 there a sample of uncultivated soil, No. 5, a sandy clay, was obtained. At 

 th farm Klipfontein, about 4j miles further west, No. 9, also an uncul- 

 tivated soil, even more sandy than the previous one, was taken. Six miles 



