I'la^ Sii/n/ of W/icat. JOi 



Prevkxtivio Measurf-is. 



From the very nature of this disease it is difficult to cope with, 

 since it not only infects the young seedlin/ when the spores are attached 

 to the grain, but they may also be in the soil and carried by various 

 agencies from one paddock to another. Hence the soil would require to be 

 disinfected in order to render any treatment of the seed efficacious, and that 

 does not seem practicable at present. The effect of various manures has 

 been tried, including the application of ground quick-lime with the seed, and 

 two of lime to one of sulphur in combination, but the results were not promis- 

 ing. It is believed that a proper system of rotation will be one way of solving 

 the difficulty, and experiments are now being carried out in that direction. 



There are, however, certain recommendations that may be made from our 

 present knowledge of the fungus, which will tend at least to reduce the ravages 

 of the disease — 



1. Wheat after wheat should be avoided. — It is not only bad farming 



practice to grow wheat after wheat, but it is a sure means of 

 perpetuating the fungus in the soil, since a fresh crop of the 

 fungus will be produced year after year if the conditions are 

 favorable. If we wish to starve out the fungus we must sow 

 some other crop on which it does not live, and it is well known 

 that oats are exempt from this particular smut. 



2. Early fallow, with thorough ivorking.— The practice is now becoming 



general of taking off only one wheat crop every three years. 

 The stubble is allowed to stand after harvest, and any grass 

 which springs up serves as pasture. Then, in the second 

 winter or spring after the wheat crop the land is fallowed, and 

 in the following autuinn the wheat is again sown. This is the 

 ordinary three years' rotation of grass, fallotv, and crop, and it 

 would be well occasionally to replace wheat with oats. The 

 thorough working of the land after rain through the spring and 

 summer is as important as the fallowing. By working the land 

 under these conditions air is admitted and moisture is conserved, 

 and this favours the germination of the spores, and, in the 

 absence of suitable plants to grow upon, they soon perish. On 

 the other hand, dry-worked land is specially favorable to the 

 disease, for this simply encourages the spread of the spores, 

 and preserves them in a dormant state, so that they are ready 

 to germinate along with the wheat plant. 



3. Burning the sttibble. — This is not so commonly practised as it used 



to be, since the value of the straw is now recognised. But 

 badly affected paddocks should be burnt off, in order to destroy 

 the spores of the fungus and check the spread of the disease, 

 and this must be done with reference to the object in view. If 

 the patches are too bare to burn where the Flag smut has been 

 then the harrows should be run over the stubble and the straw 

 will be drawn to such patclu^s and a profitable burn-off 

 rftVcted. 



4. Selection, and breeding of resistant varieties. — Among the dif- 



ferent varieties grown there may be some which more success- 

 fully resist the Flag smut than others when grown under 

 similar conditions, or there may be perfectly cliwn individual 

 plants among the diseased, and such might be selected for 

 further trial. Early varieties are said to be most susceptible. 



