TUB AGRl C OLTU BAL JOURNAL. 



751 



same, rust affecting the whole plot 

 {Puccinia form of rust , which is fully in 

 ear, standing quite five feet high, nice, 

 level, and close together, having stooled 

 beautifully. Consequent upon light and 

 overmuch rain during October, nearly 

 half was forced down on to the ground 

 and rotted. 



On the 18th November the crop was 

 dead ripe and rusty, taking over seven 

 months to ripen ; notwithstanding, I con- 

 sider it a splendid oat ; it certainly is a 

 first-class substitute for the old Cape, and 

 though not rust-proof, is certainly entitled 

 to be considered the best rust-resistant 

 oat in the Colony, and no doubt all 

 farmers will fully appreciate the action of 

 the Agricultural Department in so 

 promptly and liberally distributing the 

 Mapstone oat, and 1 would, on my part, 

 thus tender my thanks. 



W. J, Fly, Boston. 



Mr. Fly reports as follows : — I received 

 25 lbs. of Mapstone oats from the Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture, for the Boston 

 Farmers' Association. Having only one 

 application for the oats, I divided them, 

 and kept 12^ lbs. These I planted on the 

 19th Janisary, 1901. The oats were 

 planted very thinly on about a quarter of 

 an acre, with one cwt. Fison's fertiliser. 

 Alongside of the Mapstone oats I planted 

 one bag of Sidonian oats. The latter 

 came along very fast, and looked well 

 until just before they commenced to 

 come in ear, when they rusted very 

 badly, and wet weather coming on, they 

 nearly all died down before I could cut 

 them. 



The Mapstone looking well, with no 

 rust at all visible, and kept green and 

 looked splendid all through the winter, 

 stooling out wonderfully. In August 1 

 cut them, and fed green to my cattle. In 

 the spring they came on well. On 5th 

 January I cut them, and thrashed out 

 two full muid sacks, weighing about 130 

 lbs. each. The straw, a full cart load, I 

 did not weigh. These oats, I consider, 

 should be sown not later than 2()th De- 

 cember. January is too late for this dis- 

 trict, I think. The Mapstone oats, I 

 think, resemble the old winter oats in 

 every way, keeping green all through the 

 winter months. 



The oats were planted on very light red 

 soil (poor), which had previously l)een 

 planted with turnips, fertilised with 

 Fison's Root Fertiliser. 



A. W. Smith, Howick. 



Mr. Smith reports having sowed 50 lbs. 

 of Mapstone oats upon three-quarters of 

 an acre, the ground having been manured 

 with 4 cwt. of Basic Slag. 



The oats were put in on 12th April, 

 1901, and reaped 21st November. 



No rust at all appeared in the crop, and 

 1,400 lbs. of seed and 2,850 lbs. of straw 

 were reaped. 



T. Braithwaite, Hartebbbste- 



PONTEIN. 



Under date 18th January, Mr. Braith- 

 waite writes as follows : — I beg to report 

 as follows on the 30 lbs. of Mapstone oats 

 received by me on January 7th, 1901. 



I sowed 15 lbs. of the oats on January 

 8th, on well prepared but not rich ground. 

 The oats were at the shooting stage of 

 their growth when the first severe frost 

 occurred. They were killed to the 

 ground, but immediately l>€gan to grow 

 again, and in July were fed down, and 

 again by sheep — this time unintentionally 

 — in the beginning of September. They 

 were reaped December 1 8th, and were a 

 fair crop, about 20 inches long. Algerian 

 oats, grown alongside of them, and having 

 had identically the same treatment, were 

 a slightly better crop, being four inches 

 higher. Both were clean of rust. Map- 

 stone ripened eight days before Algerian, 

 Both were irrigated before being eaten off 

 the first time. The remaining 15 lbs. of 

 seed I sowed on September 7th, and 

 reaped December 18th. They were on 

 fairly good light land and were a good 

 crop, about three feet high, and were 

 ripe about four days before Algerian, 

 alongside of them ; were clear of rust 

 until ready to cut for forage. Before 

 they were ripe enough for seed the leaves 

 became rusty, but stalks remained intact. 

 When I made the last sowing I sowed also 

 in the same field Tartarian, Sidonian, 

 Cape and Algerian oats. The Tartarian 

 rusted off and were not reaped. The 

 Cape and Sidonian I had to reap before 

 they were ready to prevent their sharing 



