1905.] 



Blindness in Barley and Oats. 



347 



amount of these requirements to remain stationary and assum- 

 ing that Canada did not export to other countries. 



It may be of interest to add the figures of the area under 

 wheat cultivation and the produce in recent years. The area 

 under wheat in 1891 was 896,622 acres in Manitoba and 

 113,811 acres in the North- West Territories. 



Year. 



Manitoba. 



I N.-W, Territories. 



Total. 



Area. 



Produce. 



Area. 



Produce. 



Area. 



Produce. 



1891 

 1 90 1 

 1902 

 1903 

 1904 



Acres. 



896,622 

 2,011,835 

 2,039,940 

 2,442,873 

 2,412,235 



Bushels, 



50,502,035 

 53,077,267 

 40,116,878 

 39,162,458 



Acres. 

 113,811 

 504,697 

 625,758 

 840,703 

 1,055,282 



Bushels. 



12,808,447 

 I3i956,85o 

 16,111,569 

 20,446,000 

 • 



Acres. 

 1,010,433 

 2,516,532 

 2,665,698 

 3,283,547 

 3,467,517 



Bushels. 



63,310,482 

 67,034,H7 

 56,228,447 

 59,608,458 



From this it will be seen that the area under cultivation in 

 1904 was under 3J million acres with a production of 60 million 

 bushels, equal to an average yield of ij\ bushels per acre. The 

 mean yield per acre in Manitoba, 1 891 -1902, was 18J bushels 

 per acre, while the mean yield of the North-West Territories in 

 the seven years 1898 to 1904 for which particulars are available 

 was rather over 18 bushels. 



Several cases of a disease known as " blindness " in barley, or 

 barley " stripe," having recently been brought to the notice of 



Blindness 'n ^ e ^ oar ^' t ^ ie Director of the Royal 

 Barley and Oats, botanic Gardens, Kew, has prepared the 

 following memorandum on the subject : — 

 Fifty years ago, Rabenhorst, a German botanist, issued 

 specimens of a minute fungus under th? name of Helmin- 

 thosporium gramineum, parasitic on the leaves of cultivated 

 barley in Germany. It was noted that leaves attacked by the 

 fungus died during the flowering period. 



The fungus has subsequently been recorded from other 

 European countries as a parasite on barley, but it does not 

 appear in any instance to have assumed the proportions of an 

 extended epidemic, but has been local and sporadic in its 

 occurrence. During recent years the disease has been observed 

 in this country, where it appears to be on the increase. 



