VOLUME VII. £ 
No. 3. \ 
JOURNAL OF MYCOLOGY. 
( ISSUED 
l May 15,1893. 
EXPERIMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF RUSTS AFFECTING 
WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS. 
By B. T. Galloway. 
INTRODUCTION. 
No plant diseases have attracted as widespread attention as the rusts 
of cereals. For more than a hundred years scientists and practical 
men all over the world have made these parasites the subject of study 
and thought, but as yet nothing definite is known as regards a practi¬ 
cal and efficient means of preventing them. At the present time the 
rust of wheat is probably attracting more attention in Australia than 
any other country. The whole colony is alarmed at the ravages of 
the rust pest, which, it is estimated, causes a loss of over $10,000,000 
annually. At a recent rust conference held in Sydney,* delegates were 
present from Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and New South 
Wales. Some knowledge of what was done at this gathering may be 
gained when it is stated that it lasted five days and that the report of its 
proceedings embodies over fifty thousand words. The delegates were a 
representative body of men, and the report shows them to be thoroughly 
conversant with nearly all known facts bearing upon this important 
subject. In this country rust has of late attracted no great amount of 
attention. This is not due to a diminution in the amount of damage 
it occasions, but is owing to the fact that the annual drain upon the 
farmers’ income, which it causes, has come to be regarded as a matter 
of course. Year after year the crqp in nearly every field is ent short 
by rust, so that it is difficult to say just how much damage results 
simply because there are no figures for comparison. 
The average yield of wheat in the United States in 1S91 was only 
15.3 bushels per acre,t an amount insignificant when compared with 
some countries that do not have half the natural advantages. This 
abnormally low yield is, of course, due to several causes, rust being 
* A review of the report of this conference is to be found on another page of this 
Journal. 
t Report U. S. Department of Agr., 1891, p. 29? 
195 
