132 DISEASES OF CROPS. 



for farmers to top-dress wheat crops with iron sulphate 

 in the proportion of | to 1 cwt. (per acre) mixed with 5 

 times its weight of dry earth. (2) As it is possible that 

 " living spores or mycelium may sometimes be present 

 outside the seeds," it would be well for farmers to steep 

 seed wheat in a 2 per cent, solution of iron sulphate for 

 three or four hours. This reagent destroys the spores, 

 etc. M. Chavee-Leroy says : " The recent experiments in 

 France prove conclusively that the use of iron sulphate 

 preserves cereals from mildew." 



