028 



THE AG RI C U LT 



URAL JOURNAL. 



after the bulk of the seed had been dis- 

 tributed. The conclusion drawn from 

 this trial is that the Mapstone oat gives 

 every promise of possessing valuable 

 powers of rust resistancy. — Claude 

 Fuller. 



J. A. F. Ortlepp, Melmoth. 



In accordance with the notice in Agri- 

 cultural Journal No. 17, calling upon 

 persons, etc., supplied with Mapstone 

 oats to report, I am sorry I cannot just 

 yet comply, in that the oats have not yet 

 been reaped, but trust to do so fully by 

 the end of this month. 



Of the 25 lbs. received, i may state I 

 distributed to four other farmers about 

 4 lbs, each, who so far speak very highly 

 of the oat ; the balance, about 9 lbs., I 

 sowed myself on land well manured (last 

 year) just after a crop of potatoes, on the 

 9th of April, and now after seven months 

 is just ripe, tit to cut for seed ; rust began 

 to show towards the end of September, 

 and is now very rusty, yet not laseless. 

 To me it does not appear to be the same 

 kind of rust that has been destroying the 

 Cape oat so completely of late years, and 

 therefore send you a sample of the rusted 

 oat for your further inspection. My farm 

 being what is called " high veld," over 

 3,000 ft., and very much subject to misty 

 weather, I am of opinion the oat should 

 be sown about the end of February or first 

 week in March, and would, 1 believe, 

 ripen sooner, and l)efore the wet teason 

 commences. 



Note by the Entomologist. 



I have examined the sample of oat sent 

 in by Mr. Ortlepp, and find that it is affected 

 with the Puccitna form of the rust. This is 

 not the destructive stage i^red rust), but is 

 that which is, in my opinion, assumed 

 when the parasite meets with uncongenial 

 surroundings, and is such as I noticed to 

 an infinitesimal extent when making my 

 first observations upon the oat at Map- 

 stone Bros', farm. 



The infestation is, however, in this case 

 gi'eater than 1 have seen it, but the sample 

 of oat sent by Mr. Ortlepp is rather fine, 

 and stands .3 ft. in height, and the attack 

 appears to have come subsequent to the 

 cutting stage, and rujt to have prevented 

 the ripening of the seed. This has 



been the case with some other trials, 

 and if such experience holds good 

 throughout, the oat will have justified all 

 its claims to rust resistancy and fill a gap 

 in the Maritzburg District if nowhere 

 else.— Claude Fuller. 



W. Oldpield, Fox Hill. 



Mr. Oldfield reports to the effect that 

 the seed was planted about the beginning 

 of last E ebmary in land from which a crop 

 of potatoes had just been taken. This 

 had been manured with kraal manure and 

 basic slag. Towards the end of April it 

 was so dry that it looked as if the oats 

 would not be worth anything, but having 

 been irrigated a little they began to stool 

 out and fill up the ground so that each 

 plant became a proper bush. 



The crop was cut towards the end of 

 of September and at the beginning of 

 October, as, owing to the irregtilarity with 

 which they came on, they had to be cut 

 at different times. ■ 



Mr. Oldfield considers the crop a success, 

 as some of the oats stood four feet in 

 height. 



Note by the Entomologist. 

 The sample of seed supplied to Mr. 

 Oldfield was a very poor one, and from 

 my own observations very little of it ger- 

 minated. As a consequence the oats 

 were very wide apart when they came up. 

 They stooled out wonderfully, and I have 

 never seen any other examples to com- 

 pare with them, some stools being quite 

 5G inches in circumference.— CLAUDE 

 Fuller. 



Thomas Fleming, Boston. 

 I received 12 lbs. of these oats from 

 Government (through the Boston Farmers' 

 Association) which I sowed on 19th Jan- 

 uary last, on a strip of land five yards 

 from Winter oats. The land was not cul- 

 tivated the previous year. Kraal manure 

 was used as well as a liberal supply of 

 bone dust. The oats were, I consider, 

 sown too late for this District. At an 

 early stage the Winter oats became blighted. 

 The Mapstone oats promised well, but 

 when seeding were attacked by the blight, 

 and were useless for seed. I cut the field. 

 The Winter oats were fed off. Both oats 

 came on again in the spring ; the Winter 



