Dec. 1894.] INJURIOUS INSIECTS AND FUNGI, 201, 



4. The growth of wheat after fallowing or after crops of a 



different order, agreeable to the true principles of rota- 

 tion. 



5, Thin seeding, with due regard to varieties and local condi- 



tions of soil and climate. 



The most important of these recommendations is the third, 

 respecting the cultivation of rust-resisting or rust-escaping 

 varieties of wheat. The Conference believed that no such cereal 

 as perfectly rust-proof wheat has yet been discovered, but the 

 experiments conducted in the Colonies have shown that by 

 importing different varieties from countries outside Australia, 

 and by carefully selecting and crossing them within the Colonies, 

 certain kinds have been found to constantly escape the ravages 

 of the fungus to a considerable extent. Of these, several 

 varieties have been found possessing a thick or tough skin, so 

 tough that, although the mycelium of the fungus may enter by 

 means of the open stomata of the plant, yet it cannot break 

 through the skin in order to mature and shed its spores. These 

 varieties have besides a waxy exudation on the surface of the 

 plant similar to the bloom of fruit, which when present round 

 the stomata, prevents the mycelium from entering. 



No less than five hundred varieties of wheat had been under 

 examination by the different members of the Conference, and in 

 all the five Colonies represented at the Conference the following 

 varieties have been found to enjoy more or less immunity from 

 rust attacks : — Imperial Fife, Blunt 's Fife, White Fife, Blount's 

 Lambrigg, Marshall's No. 3, Tourmaline, Pringle's Defiance, 

 Fluorspar, Allora Spring, Horneblende, Sicilian Baart, and the 

 various Durums. 



In the words of the report : — " One of the noticeable results of 

 the labours of the Conference is seen in the present hopeful 

 view of the situation — as to rust contagion— now taken by 

 practical men. The number of persons who believe that complete 

 immunity from rust in the wheat crop will be secured are 

 perhaps as few as e^'er, but the existence of the feehng that the 

 disease may be minimized, or so completely held in check that 

 the loss from it will be small, is now all but universal." 



It was, however, brought to the attention of the Conference 

 that the hardy, high-quality red and amber wheats, which in 

 Australia have shown themselves to possess great rust -resisting 

 power, are not appreciated by Colonial millers, who will not 

 buy them save at reduced rates, as they say they are hard, 

 dark in colour, and cannot be manipulated by their machinery. 

 The varieties, on the other hand, which are not rust resistant, 

 and among which disease is most easily communicable, are 

 the white, highly starchy, and often prolific sorts which the 

 Colonial millers particularly affect. 



The Conference, in view of this difficulty, resolved that it is 

 desirable in the interests of wheat -growing in Australia that 

 another intercolonial Conference on the subject of rust-resistant 



