288 
colonies, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales, 
were present. 
The subject was discussed in all its phases, but it is neither possible 
nor desirable to enter fully into all the details. In Victoria the effects 
ty 
of manuring, spraying, drainage, varieties of seed, etc., were all tried. 
The results were largely negative, except in one instance, in Gippsland, 
where spraying with a solution of sulphate of iron, 1 ounce to 1 gallon 
of water, seemed to not only .prevent but to stop further growth of the 
rust. More experiments are considered necessary in this direction, how¬ 
ever. A series of questions was also sent out to farmers in Victoria 
and the results of the answers may be summarized as follows: (1) 
Rust seldom appears, to an injurious extent, in two successive years; 
(2) it generally appears early in October or November, depending 
upon the variety planted; (3) early-sown and early-maturing varieties 
escape the rust best : (4) in Australia the rust does not seem to re¬ 
quire a change of host, but passes its entire existence upon a single 
one; (5) rust seems to prevail usually in seasons of excessive rainfall, 
especially in October and November, appearing when close and muggy 
weather sets in; its spread is most rapid in calm, hot days and dewy, 
foggy nights; windy weather as a rule is unfavorable; (6) the kind of 
soil seems to have no effect on the disease; (7) rust-shriveled wheat 
when sown appears to produce as good a crop and one as free from rust 
as plump seed; (8) no variety is free from rust in a bad season, but some 
are more and others are less affected, some few being free from rust for 
several years in succession. 
The following suggestions are made as to the best measures to lessen 
or prevent damage: (1) Maintain a high standard of health; (2) use all 
possible measures unfavorable to and avoid those favorable to rust; (3) 
remove exciting causes where possible, by burning stubble, destroying 
weeds, etc.; (4) obtain as far as practicable rust-proof varieties; (5) 
spray crop with some solution at critical stage. 
Experiments in Queensland reported on by Mr. P. McLean were 
mainly negative, owing to the exceptionally favorable year. Rust- 
shriveled seed wheat, however, was found by fffty-ffve out of sixty 
farmers to give good results. 
Answers to inquiries made by the Department of Agriculture of New 
South Wales did not differ materially from those already given. At 
the conclusion of the report, however, the writer, Dr. N. A. Cobb, 
referred to investigations he had made on the fungi causing rusts 
(Puccinia rubigo-vera and P. graminis ), stating that nearly all the dam¬ 
age was caused by the former. He described the changes these fungi 
undergo in development, and said they are found all the year on 
either wheat or native grasses. He also called attention to the fact 
that the larvm of a species of insect had been found feeding upon 
the rust spores, and that while in this way a certain number of spores 
were destroyed they were also widely distributed by adhering to hairs 
