670 
Report  on  Wheat-Mildew. 
Abstract  of  Keplies  received  in  Answer  to  Inquiries  as  to  Prevalence  of 
Mildew,  and  tlie  Conditions  under  wliicli  it  is  Developed — continued. 
i. 
County. 
II. 
Name  and  Address 
of 
Correspondent. 
III. 
Reply  to  Queries  as 
to  Prevalence  of 
Mildew. 
IV. 
Extracts  from  Replies  to  other  Questions. 
28.  Devon 
29.  Do.  .. 
30.  Dorset 
31.  Do. 
Scratton,  D.  L., 
contd. 
Spearing,  T.  B., 
Maristow  ■ 
Cottage, 
Boborough. 
Buckman,  J., 
Bradford- 
Abbas, 
Sherborne. 
Ellswood,  W., 
Down  House , 
Bridport. 
My  farm  is 
usually  free; 
the  worst 
attack  I 
have  known 
was  in  1879. 
Some  mildew 
this  year, 
and  in  1877, 
1878,  1879. 
with  sheep,  and  one  after  man- 
golds carted  off,  were  affected  to 
a considerable  extent.  In  both 
cases  I had  manured  with  ground 
decorticated  cotton-cake,  and  I 
think  the  nitrogen  in  that  might 
be  the  cause. 
If  in  the  latter  part  of  May  and 
beginning  of  June  we  get  very 
warm  and  forcing  days,  and  at 
night  a very  low  temperature, 
with  some  degrees  of  frost,  the 
sudden  change  causes  the  life  or 
sap  of  many  plants  to  exude 
through  the  surface,  and  coming 
in  contact  with  some  particular 
property  in  the  air,  produces  life 
to  parasites,  on  some  plants, 
and  insects  on  others. 
The  disease  is  developed  under  the 
conditions  of  wet  sunless  skies— 
a continual  state  of  damp.  We 
seldom  use  farmyard-manure 
direct  for  wheat  or  any  corn,  as 
it  tends  to  the  production  of 
mildew  and  red  rust.  The  two 
counties  in  which  I have  seen 
the  least  mildew  are  Cheshire 
and  Dorset,  and  both  from  the 
same  cause.  Cheshire  uses  much 
salt  in  agriculture,  and  Dorset  is 
midway  between  the  Bristol  and 
the  S.  Channels,  and  at  this 
moment  our  dining-room  win- 
dow is  covered  with  salt.  Wo 
think  little  of  barberry  as  the 
cause  of  mildew.  It  is  usually 
quite  a rare  plant. 
Farm  on  the  coast,  300  feet  above 
the  sea.  In  one  field  this  year 
(1882)  white  wheat  is  badly 
mildewed,  while  red  wheat  in 
the  same  field  is  not  affected  at 
all.  Both  wheats  were  sown  on 
the  same  day,  the  previous  crop 
was  one  year’s  lea  penned  all 
over  with  sheep.  Thin  plant  is 
most  liable,  but  this  year  I hat 
