660 
Report  on  Wheat-Mildew. 
properties  of  these  soils,  1 dare  not  venture  to  express  an  opinion  as  to 
which  of  the  four  is  most  liable  to  be  attacked  by  mildew. 
“ If  I may  be  allowed  to  hazard  any  opinion,  I should  say  on  No.  2 wheat 
is  more  likely  to  suffer  from  mildew  than  on  No.  1 ; and  on  No.  3 soil 
more  than  on  No.  4. 
“ Of  one  thing  I feel  pretty  confident,  and  that  is  that  dung,  nitrate  of 
soda,  soot,  and  sulphate  of  ammonia,  in  cold  and  wet  seasons,  are  likely  to 
do  more  harm  than  good  to  the  wheat-crop  on  your  fen-land,  especially  on 
land  so  rich  in  nitrogen  as  the  soils  marked  No.  3 and  No.  4. 
“ Soils  like  No.  3 and  No.  4 are  so  rich  in  organic  fertilizing  constituents, 
that  they  do  not  want  any  manure.  The  only  manure  which  may  safely, 
and  I believe  with  advantage,  be  used  in  cold  and  wet  seasons  on  these 
soils,  is  mineral  superphosphate,  applied  at  the  rate  of  about  three  cwt. 
per  acre,  before  or  at  the  time  of  drilling  in  the  wheat.  Superphosphate 
promotes  early  maturity,  and  may  be  useful  in  checking  the  attacks  of 
mildew. 
“ Yours  faithfully, 
“Aug.  Voelcker.” 
“ W.  Little,  Esq.,  Stags  Holt,  March.” 
These  analyses  are  so  fully  explained  by  Dr.  Voelcker  that 
they  require  very  little  comment  from  me.  The  richness  of 
these  soils  has  for  some  years  past  shown  itself  only  by  the  pro- 
duction of  straw.  The  explanation  which  Dr.  Voelcker  gives  of 
the  action  of  nitrogenous  organic  matter  and  of  potash  in  retard- 
ing the  ripening  of  corn  throws  an  entirely  new  light  on  the 
subject ; and  the  adoption  of  the  farmers’  opinion,  that  whatever 
tends  to  produce  over-luxuriance  of  flag  and  straw  renders  the 
crop  more  liable  to  mildew,  gives  that  opinion  a scientific  basis 
and  support.  It  is  true  that  Sir  J.  B.  Lawes  and  Dr.  Voelcker 
do  not  quite  agree  about  the  effect  of  potash,  but  in  the  main 
their  views  are  the  same  ; a deficiency  of  mineral  matter  means 
the  same  thing  I suppose  as  an  excess  of  organic  matter,  and 
both  of  these  authorities  attribute  the  liability  of  certain  districts 
to  mildew  to  this  cause. 
Description  of  Wheat  grown. — In  the  inquiries  which  I made 
I was  rather  anxious  to  ascertain  whether  any  sort  of  wheat 
was  believed  to  be  disease-proof,  or  more  capable  of  resisting 
mildew  than  others.  It  is  well  known  that  one  of  the  old- 
established  wheats  in  the  Fen  country,  a red  wheat  with  white 
chaff,  is  called  (or  was  more  frequently  called  a few  years  ago) 
the  “ anti-mildew  ” wheat.  That  it  does  mildew  there  is  no 
doubt,  but  it  is  popularly  supposed  to  have  a greater  power  in 
resisting  disease  than  any  other  sort.  Rivett’s,  or  cone  wheat,  a 
stiff-strawed,  bearded  variety,  seems  to  be  very  rarely  attacked  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  Talavera  wheat  is  generally  supposed  to  be 
peculiarly  susceptible,  and  the  Velvet  Chaffed,  or  Rough  Chaffed, 
or  Hoary  White,  is  in  this  district  thought  a dangerous  wheat, 
particularly  if  sown  after  clover.  I remember  that  in  1859 
I had  a portion  of  a field  (that  from  which  No.  1 soil  was  taken) 
