8 CEREALS 



two forms of rust occurred in the country, viz., black rust 

 (Puccinia graminis) and yellow rust (P. glumarum). Mr. 

 Evans, the Government Botanist, having noted that 

 certain varieties were susceptible to one of these rusts, 

 and apparently immune or highly resistant to the other, 

 proceeded to make crosses in the hope and expectation 

 that among the progeny he would find one or more forms 

 immune or highly resistant to both. It is recorded at a 

 later stage that orange rust (P. triticina) has been found, 

 and Mr. Evans proposes to proceed on the same lines 

 to seek for a variety which is immune to all three. I need 

 hardly say that the work will command a great amount 

 of interest and sincere hopes for success. Up to now I 

 have seen no announcement of the complete story, but 

 in the Annual Report for 1912 of the Department of 

 Agriculture, British East Africa, it is recorded that some 

 of the new types produced by hybridizing and selection 

 have for the past two generations resisted the " black 

 stem rust " (P. graminis), the worst fungoid enemy to 

 wheat in the country. A most encouraging result. I 

 note in this connection that rust has been known to 

 appear in wheat grown for the first time on virgin soil 

 when no other wheat was growing within a thousand 

 miles of it. 



Other wheat pests have been encountered, e.g., green 

 fly (Toxoptera graminum) and two species of beetle 

 {Phrynocolus crispatus, Fairm., and Gonocephalum, con- 

 tractum, Gerst.), but the outstanding fact is that good 

 yields, ranging from 20 to 36 bushels per acre, have been 

 obtained. 



There are two distinct rainy seasons in the country, and 

 it is possible to obtain two crops of wheat in one year. 



For instance, Rieti was sown in May, 1905, and 

 harvested in the following September. It was then sown 

 again at the same station, and harvested in March, 1906. 

 I have seen other records showing the possibility of 

 getting two crops in twelve or fourteen months; the one 

 I have used shows they have been secured within ten or 

 eleven months. This rapidity of reproduction is very 

 useful to the breeder, but it does not appear to be good 

 for commercial purposes. A constant succession of wheat 



