About the Discovery

In 1916, a terrible epidemic ravaged Canadian farms, destroying over 100 million bushels of wheat and causing farmers to lose close to $200 million dollars in revenue. The culprit was a mysterious plant disease called "wheat rust." The impact on the farming industry and the Canadian economy was devastating. Farmers threatened to go on strike unless the government provided research money and scientists to find a method of getting rid of the wheat rust fungus, which had plagued them for many years. A strike would have involved a huge portion of the Canadian population since most people in the early 1900s lived and worked on farms.

In 1917, it was the critical research of a young undergraduate student at Montreal's McGill University that finally shed some light on this mysterious disease. Margaret Newton discovered that there were many kinds of rust and that the development of different types of wheat that were resistant to the rust was the answer to the epidemic. The discovery launched her career, and she went on to devote herself to unraveling the complex nature of wheat rust and seeking solutions that made her a world famous plant pathologist.

After she left McGill University, she continued her research at the University of Minnesota where she received her Ph.D., and later at the newly created Dominion Rust Research Centre in Winnipeg. As a result of the research carried out by Margaret, wheat rust is no longer a significant problem.

Sadly, her research may have caused her ill health, which forced her to retire in 1945. She says, "Unfortunately, all those years of intensive work with rust spores damaged my lungs beyond repair. Today, researchers working with rust spores wear filtration masks to protect themselves, but when I began my work we knew nothing of this." Margaret's important discoveries about wheat rust profoundly influenced the development of prairie agriculture and contributed significantly to the growth of the Canadian economy. There has not been a serious epidemic since the 1950's.

About the Discoverer

Margaret Newton was born in Montreal in 1887. Though her father disapproved of higher education, all of his children (Margaret, her sister and three brothers) became scientists. In 1922, Margaret was the first Canadian woman to earn a Ph.D. in agricultural science.

Margaret never intended to become a famous plant pathologist, but having become one, her work in wheat rust was important not only to Canada, but to other countries which also grew wheat. She was frequently invited to speak at seminars around the world, and, in 1930, went to Russia at the invitation of the government to train 50 students on the problems of rust research. In 1933, the Russian government asked her to continue her research in Russia. The government offered her $10,000, which was a huge sum of money at the time and a staff of 50 scientists. The offer even included a camel caravan for her travels through desert country in parts of Russia! She turned down the offer since she believed that her absence would put "Canada's work in the field back many years." She received numerous awards including induction into the Science Hall of Fame, Ottawa.

She never married. Committed to her work, it has been said that she worked until exhaustion, and then relaxed through travel and strenuous canoe expeditions. She died in Victoria, BC in 1971.