366 



THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



14 yards across, planting on each side 

 Cape seed. I noticed yesterday that the 

 Mapstone Oats looked healthier than the 

 Cape alongside. I will report again, but 

 do not expect the best result, as I do not 

 think that they have had a fair chance."— 

 (.Geo. Martin, Ixopo, 16th July, 1901). 



''Re Mapstone Oats. There is very 

 little to report, except that the oats were 

 sown on the 26th March, and so far have 

 not shown any signs of rust." — (J. H. 

 Duryarnd, Ixopo, 16th July, 1901). 



" I received the oats a little too late 

 for this district, they were planted at the 

 end of January and grew away up to 

 March. In March, when it was so wet, 

 a little rust appeared, but died away when 

 the dry weather set in ; the piece of forage 

 is now quite green and trying to head. 

 It is about thirty inches high."— (H. 

 Baker, Umlaas Road, 9th July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Oats. They are just 

 commencing to shoot, and are in as 

 healthy a condition as I could wish. 

 They have just been thoroughly irrigated 

 and look beautiful."- (W. Oldheld, Fox 

 Hill, 9th July, 1901 n 



" I planted the Mapstone Oats on Feb- 

 ruary 8th ; they are coming on well now. 

 These oats are w^ell called ' rust-resisting,' 

 as they have grown almost entirely free 

 from rust. By careful watching I only 

 found one or two little specks the size of 

 a pin's head. The field (8/10 acre) is 

 looking beautifully green now and prom- 

 ises to be a tJiorough success." — (M. F. 

 Phipson, Fox Hill, 8th July, 1901. 



" Sorry to say the Mapstone Oats came to 

 nothing ; it grew to eighteen inches high 

 and then died off, so I cut it, and I think 

 it will come on in the spring. It looks very 

 promising so far."— (H. Nadauld, Umlaas 

 Road, 10th July, 1901). 



" I have found the Mapstone Oat not 

 only rust-resistant, but frost-proof, and 

 from its heavy stooling habit I consider 

 it an excellent substitute for the old 

 winter oat now no longer growable." — 

 (G. R, Richards, Mooi River, 8th July, 

 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Seed Oats. I had 251bs. 

 which were planted on 3rd January on a 

 little more than half an acre of ground. 

 1^ cwt. of superphosphate was put on the 

 land and harrowed in at the same time as 

 the seed. The crop was reaped on the 

 10th June. The seed should be planted 



here, in my opinion, in the first or second 

 week in December, (our elevation being 

 over .5,000 feet). About half the crop 

 threw out seed-stems, but the seed is not 

 mature and is light ; s )me of it may 

 germinate, but not all. The oat grew a 

 good strong plant, perfectly free from 

 rust, and some of the plants that threw 

 out seed-stems would be nearly five feet 

 high. I consider it a good forage plant ; 

 it had a good deal of frost on it before it 

 was cut and was not affected by it at all ; 

 but stood perfectly green. It was cut as 

 there was no chance of it ripening off this 

 season, and the frost and drought might 

 have injured it if left later."— (W. McFie, 

 Highlands, 12th July, 1901). 



" I am glad to be able to tell you that 

 the forage from the Mapstone seed is 

 doing fairly well. I planted about aa 

 acre with the seed. The land was partially 

 manured with cattle-kraal manure. In 

 the manured ground there is promise of a 

 good crop, but where the ground is poor 

 the stalk is short. I have irrigated the 

 crop twice. There is no sign of rust so 

 far as I can see."— ^J. H. HoUey, Broad- 

 moor, 12th July, 1901). 



" The seed was not a good quality and 

 came up thin. In April the plants com- 

 menced to be blighted, in May they had 

 a shower of rain and overstood the blight 

 and have completely recovered. Their 

 appearance is good, but they are suffering 

 from drought at present. I shall de- 

 cidedly recommend them to be planted. 

 I may further state that I planted some 

 Algerian oats on the same day ; these 

 took the blight in a more severe form, 

 and about a fortnight sooner."— (E. C. 

 Nuss, Krantzkop, 12th July, 1901). 



" I received the oats in the beginning 

 of March and planted them, manuring 

 the land with phosphate. About three 

 weeks after it came up, unfortunately, a 

 hailstorm cut it all off. However, it 

 started afresh, and grew well to about six 

 inches in height, then the frost stopped 

 farther growth. I put a few sheep on the 

 land to feed the oats down, and expect to 

 reap a crop next December. There was 

 no rust at all on the oats."— E. B. Parkin- 

 son, Lidgetton, 17feh July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Oats. They were planted 

 in sandy soil, well manured with ordinary 

 kraal manure. Result— green, very rank. 



