652 
Report  on  Wheat-Mildew. 
point  out  that  the  views  of  Arthur  Young’s  correspondents  given 
in  answer  to  his  question,  “ Have  crops  on  fallows  or  layers 
escaped  best  ? ” may  seem  at  first  sight  at  variance  with  those 
which  I have  collected,  since  a majority  reply  that  “ layers 
escape  best but  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  is  only  as 
compared  with  wheat  after  fallows  ; that  the  layers  spoken  of 
were  generally  mixed  seeds  laid  down  for  two  or  three  years,  and 
that  at  the  present  time  only  a very  small  proportion  of  the 
wheat  crop  is  sown  after  fallows,  so  that  the  experience  of  the 
present  generation  as  to  wheats  grown  under  such  conditions  is 
small. 
Manures. — I pass  on  to  notice  the  opinions  which  have  been 
expressed  as  to  effect  of  the  application  of  different  kinds  of 
manures.*  Seven  correspondents  connect  mildew  with  the 
application  of  nitrate  of  soda,  two  with  nitrogenous  manures, 
one  with  ammoniacal  manures,  one  suffered  after  woollen  rags, 
another  after  soot,  another  after  rape-cake.  In  six  replies  farm- 
yard manure  is  said  to  have  been  used.  The  effect  of  the  whole 
of  the  replies  is  that  where  a crop  has  been  stimulated  and  forced 
into  luxuriant  growth  it  is  more  liable  to  fatal  injury  by  mildew. 
There  are  one  or  two  bits  of  evidence  in  favour  of  the  applica- 
tion of  marl,  clay,  and  sea-sand,  which  are  well  worth  notice.! 
I have  now  placed  before  the  readers  of  this  ‘Journal’  the 
opinions  of  practical  men  as  to  the  influence  of  soil,  cultivation, 
and  manures  in  promoting  mildew  ; and  I have  shown  that,  though 
there  is  considerable  difference  on  minor  points,  there  is  a sub- 
stantial agreement  that  rich  land  and  land  in  a high  state  of 
cultivation  are  peculiarly  susceptible  of  disease.  It  is  true  that 
some  descriptions  of  light  land  contest  with  clay  and  loam  the 
pre-eminence,  and  this  circumstance  may  very  well  lead  us  to 
doubt  whether  mechanical  condition,  solidity,  texture,  or  even  the 
Manures  applied  to  Mildewed  Crops, 
or  believed  to  promote  the  Disease. 
Reference  to  Replies. 
Nitrate  of  Soda  
See  Nos. 
8,  26,  72,  77,  7S,  79,  SO. 
Nitrogenous  Manures  .. 
1,61. 
Ammoniacal  Manures  . . 
69. 
Woollen  rags 
5. 
Soot 
2. 
Rape-cake  
51. 
Decorticated  Cotton-cake  . . 
28. 
Heavy  folding  
54. 
Excessive  manuring 
34,  81. 
Farmyard  manure 
6,  7,  13,  23,  30,  39. 
Artificial  manure 
18,  52,  51,  62. 
Liquid  manure  
20. 
f See  Nos.  23,  62,  65 ; pp.  669, 678,  679. 
