TEE AG RT G U LTU RAL JOURNAL. 



367 



no rust, and are only just coming to seed." 

 — (VV. H. Westbrook, New Hanover, 5th 

 August, IIHU). 



" Oats grew well for about two mouths, 

 when they rusted slightly. They are now 

 standing eighteen inches high, but no 

 sign of seeding, and only very slightly 

 touched with rust. 1 do not know if they 

 will head when the rain comes, but I 

 hope so. I think had they been sowed 

 six weeks earlier they might have 

 headed." — (F. Oellermann, New Hanovei-, 

 13th July, 1901). 



" I planted the seed on the 13th Jan- 

 uary. Unhappily, a few days after, we 

 got a severe thunderstorm, wi^h very 

 heavy rain, and the lot was washed 

 away." — C. Schroeder, New Hanover, 

 24th August, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Seed Oats which I re- 

 ceived for trial. I planted them 2nd 

 February ; they came up nicely but grew 

 slowly. I waited, expecting them to 

 come to ear to get the seed. They grew 

 three feet high with no signs of the ear 

 coming out. I have cut them for the 

 cattle, and they are stooling up splendidly 

 again. I hope to get a good crop of seed 

 in summer. I think they are a summer 

 oat and not for winter. I must say they 

 are free from rust." — (G. C. Mackenzie, 

 Buccleuch, 19th July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Seed Oats. Have sown 

 the oats in the beginning of Fe))ruary, 

 1901, on well prepared land. They came 

 up well and looked nice until the drought 

 came on, when they turned yellow and 

 rusted slightly. The forage has been 

 standing now nearly six months, and they 

 show no sign of seed yet." — ;R. H. Oeller- 

 mann, Rudolph's Heim, New Hanover, 

 17th July, 1901). 



" The Mapstone Oats are free from rust 

 yet, but mine are very small and grow 

 very slowly, as it is very dry." — (W. H. 

 Bentley, New Hanover, 31st July, 1901). 



" i2e Mapstone Oat. They made good 

 progress for a month, or there about, when 

 they took the rust slightly. They were 

 irrigated, and, after the frosty nights, re- 

 covered completely, and are now standing 

 about two feet high and are beginning to 

 shoot out." — (H. Herbert, New Hanover, 

 12th July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Oats. I planted them 

 in well prepared soil, manured with bone 



dust. The oats came up well, and looked 

 very promising until about eighteen 

 inches high, when I perceived symptoms 

 of rust, which was checked by the first 

 frost, and since theu the forage made a 

 poor attempt to seed, and is now com- 

 pletely drying off. I intend mowing it 

 down so as to give it an opportunity of 

 shooting in the spring. I do not think it 

 is a winter oat." — (Jas. A. Westbrook, 

 New Hanover, 19th July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Seed Oats. On the 29th 

 January I sowed the oats on well prepared 

 land, being very well worked ; but I am 

 sorry to add that on the next day a tre- 

 mendous storm came down and simply 

 flooded and covered the seed with mud, 

 and, of course, there was no chance of 

 saving anything "—(H. D. Dinkelmann, 

 Dalton, 16th July, 1901). 



" Re Mapstone Seed Oats. They were 

 sown on January 15th, and came up very 

 well. The crop was looking well until 

 the beginning of April, when it became 

 quite yellow, but on examination I found 

 it was not the rust we have on other 

 forage. The forage turned a little green 

 again after I irrigated it. It has been 

 standing nov\ exactly six months, and 

 there is no sign of its getting into seed 

 yet, and its height is only about eighteen 

 inches. But I think the oats sown in 

 spring would turn out better." — (E. C. F. 

 Oellermann, Dalton, 15th July, 1901). 



The first trial of the oat was made by 

 Mr. C. B. Lloyd, late Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, who furnishes the following 

 interesting note : — " Mr. Mapstone gave 

 me an envelope full of seed the day you 

 and I went to see his crop. This seed I 

 planted carefully in rows on June 13th, 

 1900 (at Highlands). Owing to the dry 

 weather I had it irrigated twice' during 

 July and August, and three times during 

 September, October, and November. It 

 grew very well and strongly, each plant 

 stooling out nicely. As soon as it came 

 into head I had it covered with fruit- 

 fly netting to keep off the birds. On 

 November 20th rust appeared, but very 

 slightly— the crop being then just ripen- 

 ing. On December 3rd the crop was 

 dead ripe and very rusty, and was cut. 

 Had I desired the crop for forage I should 

 have secured it early in November with- 

 out a speck of rust, as it was only when 



