CEREALS 



behaved satisfactorily. The Report of the Government 

 Agriculturist and Botanist for the year 1912 contains the 

 following reference to wheat: " The great problem 

 . . . . is the prevalence of rust, and the attempt to 

 solve this by the creation of hybrids has yielded promising 

 results. Fifteen cross-bred strains of wheat, of which 

 in most cases a variety known as Victoria was one of the 

 parents, were grown as summer crops, and were resistant 

 to rust and yielded well. . . . The grain of the hybrid 

 shows a great improvement in quality as compared with 

 that of Victoria wheat, and several strains promise greater 

 rust resistance. ... In all fifty-two different strains 

 of wheat were under trial." Last month I received 

 information that most satisfactory progress has been 

 made with this work, and that " the Department pos- 

 sesses several varieties which have been grown success- 

 fully as summer crops for the last three to five years." 



1 am indebted to Dr. Eric Nobbs, the Director of 

 Agriculture, and to Mr. Godfrey Mundy, the Govern- 

 ment Agriculturist and Botanist, for the information 

 upon which my remarks are founded, and the former 

 includes a memorandum he kindly sent me as follows: 

 " There thus appear reasonably good prospects of summer 

 wheat becoming a staple Rhodesian crop in the not- 

 distant future, and if this can be achieved the country will 

 well be able to supply its own needs in regard to wheaten 

 products. 



" The type of wheat found most suitable to Rhodesia 

 is the common wheat (Triticum sativum), but European 

 varieties have not been successful. Durum wheats have 

 been discarded, and quick maturing varieties alone are 

 now being grown. 



" Rust and smut are the only diseases by which the 

 crop is as yet attacked. 



" The average yield under present methods of farming, 

 and whether as a summer or a winter crop, is about 14 

 to 15 bushels per acre." 



As a commercial proposition wheat has had to compete 

 principally with oat-hay and maize. The latter is the 

 standard summer crop, and has predominated to such an 

 extent that Southern Rhodesia was described a few years 



