BY J. BANCKOFT, M.D., PRKSIDKNT. 



177 



form that one could expect to grow near Brisbane, as it rarely 

 suffered from rust. Some German families in Queensland ate rye, 

 and during one season I had rye-porridge made for breakfast from 

 grain grown at my garden and ground in a coffee-mill. Some 

 of ni}^ family would eat it, and prompted somewhat by patriotic 

 motives, I took this porridge daily for about a year. Now, a 

 large patch of lye was grown and the grain sent to ]\Ir. Petti- 

 grew to be put through the process by which he manufactured 

 wheat-meal. This better-prepared grist was cooked, but when 

 brought to the table was found to have such a peppery taste that 

 the cook was accused of letting the pepper-caster fall into the 

 porridge, but no, all the meal had the same flavour, and it was 

 discovered that our rye had been ground in the pepper- mill. 

 This was my last experiment on the economies of lye. 



To my astonishment nearly all the Indian wheat grew, 

 producing ears and grain without being injured in any remark- 

 able manner by rust. The Toowoomba experiments, carried 

 out by the late Mr. Way, were e([ually successful with Indian 

 wheats, French wheats and others giving little encouragement. 

 A wheat was now heai'd of in Toowoomba that had come 

 among canary-seed, and was found to withstand rust. Some 

 bushels of it were purchased from Mr. Saxon, a farmer there, 

 and distributed in the neighbourhood of Brisbane. This wheat, 

 a tall beai'ded kind with hard grain, is still grown at the Bald 

 Hills by Mr. Stewart and yields satisfactory returns. 



Years later Indian wheat was distributed to many experimen- 

 talists, and Captain Hope, of Cleveland, proved that on his red 

 soil fine ears of wheat could be grown to perfection. On com- 

 paring the Indian with such wheats as "Defiance," " Champion," 

 and other European forms, it was found thjit sown side by side 

 the Indian produced ripe grain when the Eui'opean was shooting 

 into ear, and that there was a difference of about a month in 

 the speed of growth in favour of the Indian samples. 



All Indian wheats, are, however, not rust-proof, and several 

 beautiful white wheats, with soft grain pei'ish aftei- shooting 

 into ear if planted in low damp and rich soil. The wheat most 

 successful on such land is the tall dark-bearded kind. This 

 wheat will succeed on the richest scrub-soil, free from any 

 injury from rust. It may be grown in winter, and hai'vested 

 in ample time to obtain a summer crop of maize. If sown in 

 May on the fields fi-om which maize has been gathered it may 

 be cut in the end of October or beginning of Novembei', leaving 

 plenty of time for preparing the land for maize-sowing. I 

 strongly recommend this course of cultivation for scrub-lands 



