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; -• VOL XIX. INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, NOV. 1,1884. NO. 44. WHEAT BUST. Experiments and What is Known About It. [ Paper read before the Marlon County Agricultural and Horticultural Association at their October meeting, by Miss Llllle J. Martin, teacher in the Indianapolis High School.] WHEAT RUST—ITS NATURE AND ORIGIN. Plants called fungi are very numerous, outnumbering in species tbe higher plants. Nearly all the flowering plants have one or more parasitic plant foes. Nor are animals free; thousands of fish,flies and other animals are annually killed by fungi that attack them. Even man Is not safe from their ravages as the Investigations of Dr. Koch on cholera and other contagious diseases have proven. Every form of organic matter is attacked; milk is soured, grape juice fermented and preserved fruit turned musty by fungus parasites. What is known of fungi Is scarcely a hundred years old. Such knowledge has been made possible only through the improvements that have been made In the microscope. Not only cannot their spores be seen by the naked eye, but even to distinguish their species is impossible. Frequently their presence ia only known through the changes they produce ln plants they attack—leaves or other parts of plants become dissolved in spots or wither away without apparent reason. De Bary and other botanists have made a careful study of wheat rust and Its life history is now pretty well understood. THE RUST IS A PLANT that changes from plant to plant during diflerent stages of development. Swollen spots of what has been called barberry cluster cups, or barberry rust, appear on the leaves of barberry early in the spring. The next stage, called the uredo stage, begins later in the season, usually after the cluster cups have entirely disappeared from the barberry. Pale yellow or whitish spots appear first upon leaves, and a little afterwards, upon the stems of wheat, oats, corn, barley, grass, etc. Orange colored spores will be found under these white spots. These are called uredo spores. They grow very rapidly, and soon make their way through the epidermis, and expose long orange-colored lines. These uredo spores germinate so very fast that the plant on which they are growing is often destroyed before its full growth is attained. Farmers call this stage, I believe, the red rust of wheat, oats, barley and grass. The black rust is the third and last stage of this fungus. Late in the season, when the grain is nearly ripe, long black lines of spores technically called telluto spores, appear upon the leaves and stems. Telluto spores appear in their greatest perfection on that portion of the stalk that is left standing in the field. They remain upon the dead stems through the winter. The next spring they germinate and produce the whitish yellow spots on the barberry. THE ABOVE VIEW OP THE BUST was demonstrated by placing the spores of barberry rust on barberry leaves that were free from the rust. No growth took place, but when these spores were put on leaves of grass, oats or wheat the next stage developed. To complete the work the spores which developed on grass, wheat, etc., were put on barberry leaves and true barberry rust was produced. THE EXPERIMENTS as to the life history of rust were performed by such a careful experimenter, De Bary, that in Germany the origin of wheat rust was considered to be settled. England, however, still continued to have its scientific and practical skeptics. After experiments running through several months, Er. Plowright declared he did not believe there was any connection between barberry rust and wheat rust. But when he made another set of experiments a year later he was able in every case to produce barberry rust from wheat rust and vice versa. English scientific men no longer doubt. Would that the practical skeptic, in the person of the English farmer, could be converted! He has for years granted that there was quite likely some connection between barberry and wheat rust, and yet he continues to separate his fields by hedges composed of this shrub. MANY FUNQI called uredinese have a hi»tory similar to that of wheat rust, though the life cycle is by no means so extended in all. Sometimes two or even three stages merge into one. The red rust which appears on blackberry in spring and causes the shoots to become- curlnd and spindling in form is not connected with any other form so far as known. Information is greatly needed as to the best methods of avoiding and destroying the fungi which attack cultivated plants. Reports from botanists and faimers will be the sources from which information may be expected. The botanist will not aim at "practical utility" in the early study of a given plant. He will expect bis work to be supplemented by that of the experimental station, and that it will serve only as a ground work for future experiment. Of course the conclusions arrived at at the experiment station must be tested by reports from farmers in diflerent parts of the country in order to ascertain if what is true on a small scale is also true on a large one. WHEAT RUST (Puccinia graminis) is the only rust that has been studied in anything approaching lo an exhaustive way. Not only has its life history been investigated by De Bary and others, but Dr. Lawes, Voelcher and others have spent much time in order to ascertain the conditions under which the plant develops: 1. Many experimenters have found that much moisture is necessary in developing low plants in the laboratory. High plants on the contrary are made "unhealthy by moisture. Unhealthy plants, like unhealthy animals, are more liable to disease. Hence moisture favors the development of rust. 2. Dr. Lawes has laid down the law, after many experiments, that plants sown on soil containing organic matter,are more liable to be attacked by animal and plant parasites. 3. Dr. Voelcher made a series of interesting experiments. He analyzed four quite different kinds of soil in order to ascertain the amount of nitrogenous matter present. He then made a careful examination of wheat growing on each kind, and found that rust varied as the amount of nitrogenous matter. His next step was to analyze clover which proved to have a large per cent of nitrogenous matter. From his experiments he concluded that wheat should not be sown after clover. In order to test the accuracy of a large scale of conclusions that had been arrived at in the laboratory, and also for the purposo of obtaining additional information, the Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of England sent out a list of questions to the British farmers. A great number of answers was received. The substance of theseanswers,as well as other matters of interest in regard to wheat rust, takes up about 50 pages of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. In regard to ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS, the farmers state that spring frosts, heavy rainfalls, violent changes of temperature and thunder storms are favorable to the development of the rust. So also is un- drained land. Again they say, that wheat sown on PEAT AND CLAY SOILS is more attacked than that sown on gravel and light land, and that wheat put into newly broken land is always covered with rust. The soils above which favor the development of rust have about three per cent of mineral matter; those that are unfavorable, 97 per cent. This proves that Dr. Lawes was correct in saying that wheat sown on soil containing a great deal of organic matter would be very liable to attack from rust. Not only these, but many other facts, gleaned from the farmers' answers are very striking on account of their agreement with the conclusions of scientific workers. Dr. Voelcher's inference that wheat should not be sown after clover was verified by the experience of farmers. They announce that wheat sown after clover is much affected by rust. The immediate value of statistics like those gathered by the Royal Agricultural Society is seen from the knowledge gained in regard to sowing wheat after clover. Much that is learned will have a future rather than a present value. This will be felt, when experimental work needs to be substantiated by direct evidence. Untested statistics may even be of value in avoiding the rust In lieu of something better. NO REMEDY KNOWN. At present the conditions under which rust is developed aro very important,since no remedy is known. Possibly this may be so always, for low plants hold on to life with such tenacity that some persons believe no remedy will be found, for whatever destroys the rust will also destroy the wheat. Would not a series of questions like those which were put to the British farmers be of use in this State? Doubtless much of what would be learned by such questions would already be known to the average farmer. One fact brought out by the above report has long been taken advantage of here I am told; the earlier varieties of wheat are now more sown, and they are sown earlier than formerly because not so much attacked by rust. The British farmers seem to think white wheats suffer more than red. Is this one of the reasons why red wheats are gradually supplanting the white in this part of the country? FALL FLO WHIG. November is the Indian summer month; and though Indian summer is not so marked a feature of our climate as it was when the burning of the leaves of vast forests and the grass of almost boundless prairies filled the atmosphere with smoke so densely that only the red rays of the sun could penetrate it, often continued weeks together, still, we have enough of this grand featuro of an American autumn usually left to give us a month of very favorable weather for closing up the active woik of the farm for the year. The first duty of the farmer in this period is to secure the corn crop of the year, but it is scarcely less important that timely provision be made for the crop of next year. Fall plowing may, in common seasons, be prosecuted successfully through the months of October, November and till the ground is frozen in December. In stubble ground this seldom comes before the middle of the month. There often occurs a thaw in January, giving ten days, or two weeks, in which sod ground may be broken, with good results. In fall or winter breaking, the plow should be set as deep as the capacity of the beam will permit. If a three horse sulky plow can be used, and a furrow ten inches deep be turned, so much the belter; especially if tbe land be a clay soil well under- drained. The effect of this will be to expose the lower portion of the soil to the atmospheric influences, especially to the full effect of freezing, which, by the expansion of the particles of water in becoming ice tends to detach the atoms of soil from each other and when it thaws, leaves them in this divided condition. In this manner the soil is more finely pulverized than is possible by any mechanical means. The freezing of earth is merely the solidi-' fying of the water it contains; and whatever change is made in its physical condition is the effect of that solidification. There are chemical changes, however, made in the soil by its free exposure to the air and sunshine that are important in relation to its productiveness. Ground that is deeply broken in the fall should be only surface plowed in the spring. A good cultivator or spring-tooth harrow will do this work sufficiently well. Of course, fall- plowed ground must not be trodden by stock after being broken. 0-B HEW STATE HOUSE. The quarterly report of the State House commissioners shows that the building is now about ready for the iron roof. The first installment of taxes for 1883 has been collected, and there is now $93,101.44 to the credit of the State-house fund. The expenditures during the last quarter amounted to $84,278.15, of which $36,686.82 was for cut-stone work; J14.944.13 for brick work"; $5,197.15 for iron; $8,823.39 for copper, lead, etc.; $13,206.47 for carpenter work; $1,216.- 44 inside finish; architects, per centage^ $1,327.86; commissioner's salaries,$l,667.2'>. The total expenditures since the construction of the building began is $989,326.74. The building looms up above surrounding blocks and looks as though the heavy and slow work was near completion. A drunken woman severely injured several men by slashing with a knife, on a train on the Wabash road, Thursday night.
Object Description
Title | Indiana farmer, 1884, v. 19, no. 44 (Nov. 1) |
Purdue Identification Number | INFA1944 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | United States - Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or not-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Date Digitized | 2011-01-12 |
Digitization Information | Original scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subjects (LCSH) |
Agriculture Farm management Horticulture Agricultural machinery |
Subjects (NALT) |
agriculture farm management horticulture agricultural machinery and equipment |
Genre | Periodical |
Call Number of Original | 630.5 In2 |
Location of Original | Hicks Repository |
Coverage | Indiana |
Type | text |
Format | JP2 |
Language | eng |
Collection Title | Indiana Farmer |
Rights Statement | Content in the Indiana Farmer Collection is in the public domain (published before 1923) or lacks a known copyright holder. Digital images in the collection may be used for educational, non-commercial, or non-for-profit purposes. |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Digitization Information | Orignal scanned at 300 ppi on a Bookeye 3 scanner using internal software. Display images generated in CONTENTdm as JP2000s; file format for archival copy is uncompressed TIF format. |
Transcript | ; -• VOL XIX. INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, NOV. 1,1884. NO. 44. WHEAT BUST. Experiments and What is Known About It. [ Paper read before the Marlon County Agricultural and Horticultural Association at their October meeting, by Miss Llllle J. Martin, teacher in the Indianapolis High School.] WHEAT RUST—ITS NATURE AND ORIGIN. Plants called fungi are very numerous, outnumbering in species tbe higher plants. Nearly all the flowering plants have one or more parasitic plant foes. Nor are animals free; thousands of fish,flies and other animals are annually killed by fungi that attack them. Even man Is not safe from their ravages as the Investigations of Dr. Koch on cholera and other contagious diseases have proven. Every form of organic matter is attacked; milk is soured, grape juice fermented and preserved fruit turned musty by fungus parasites. What is known of fungi Is scarcely a hundred years old. Such knowledge has been made possible only through the improvements that have been made In the microscope. Not only cannot their spores be seen by the naked eye, but even to distinguish their species is impossible. Frequently their presence ia only known through the changes they produce ln plants they attack—leaves or other parts of plants become dissolved in spots or wither away without apparent reason. De Bary and other botanists have made a careful study of wheat rust and Its life history is now pretty well understood. THE RUST IS A PLANT that changes from plant to plant during diflerent stages of development. Swollen spots of what has been called barberry cluster cups, or barberry rust, appear on the leaves of barberry early in the spring. The next stage, called the uredo stage, begins later in the season, usually after the cluster cups have entirely disappeared from the barberry. Pale yellow or whitish spots appear first upon leaves, and a little afterwards, upon the stems of wheat, oats, corn, barley, grass, etc. Orange colored spores will be found under these white spots. These are called uredo spores. They grow very rapidly, and soon make their way through the epidermis, and expose long orange-colored lines. These uredo spores germinate so very fast that the plant on which they are growing is often destroyed before its full growth is attained. Farmers call this stage, I believe, the red rust of wheat, oats, barley and grass. The black rust is the third and last stage of this fungus. Late in the season, when the grain is nearly ripe, long black lines of spores technically called telluto spores, appear upon the leaves and stems. Telluto spores appear in their greatest perfection on that portion of the stalk that is left standing in the field. They remain upon the dead stems through the winter. The next spring they germinate and produce the whitish yellow spots on the barberry. THE ABOVE VIEW OP THE BUST was demonstrated by placing the spores of barberry rust on barberry leaves that were free from the rust. No growth took place, but when these spores were put on leaves of grass, oats or wheat the next stage developed. To complete the work the spores which developed on grass, wheat, etc., were put on barberry leaves and true barberry rust was produced. THE EXPERIMENTS as to the life history of rust were performed by such a careful experimenter, De Bary, that in Germany the origin of wheat rust was considered to be settled. England, however, still continued to have its scientific and practical skeptics. After experiments running through several months, Er. Plowright declared he did not believe there was any connection between barberry rust and wheat rust. But when he made another set of experiments a year later he was able in every case to produce barberry rust from wheat rust and vice versa. English scientific men no longer doubt. Would that the practical skeptic, in the person of the English farmer, could be converted! He has for years granted that there was quite likely some connection between barberry and wheat rust, and yet he continues to separate his fields by hedges composed of this shrub. MANY FUNQI called uredinese have a hi»tory similar to that of wheat rust, though the life cycle is by no means so extended in all. Sometimes two or even three stages merge into one. The red rust which appears on blackberry in spring and causes the shoots to become- curlnd and spindling in form is not connected with any other form so far as known. Information is greatly needed as to the best methods of avoiding and destroying the fungi which attack cultivated plants. Reports from botanists and faimers will be the sources from which information may be expected. The botanist will not aim at "practical utility" in the early study of a given plant. He will expect bis work to be supplemented by that of the experimental station, and that it will serve only as a ground work for future experiment. Of course the conclusions arrived at at the experiment station must be tested by reports from farmers in diflerent parts of the country in order to ascertain if what is true on a small scale is also true on a large one. WHEAT RUST (Puccinia graminis) is the only rust that has been studied in anything approaching lo an exhaustive way. Not only has its life history been investigated by De Bary and others, but Dr. Lawes, Voelcher and others have spent much time in order to ascertain the conditions under which the plant develops: 1. Many experimenters have found that much moisture is necessary in developing low plants in the laboratory. High plants on the contrary are made "unhealthy by moisture. Unhealthy plants, like unhealthy animals, are more liable to disease. Hence moisture favors the development of rust. 2. Dr. Lawes has laid down the law, after many experiments, that plants sown on soil containing organic matter,are more liable to be attacked by animal and plant parasites. 3. Dr. Voelcher made a series of interesting experiments. He analyzed four quite different kinds of soil in order to ascertain the amount of nitrogenous matter present. He then made a careful examination of wheat growing on each kind, and found that rust varied as the amount of nitrogenous matter. His next step was to analyze clover which proved to have a large per cent of nitrogenous matter. From his experiments he concluded that wheat should not be sown after clover. In order to test the accuracy of a large scale of conclusions that had been arrived at in the laboratory, and also for the purposo of obtaining additional information, the Secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of England sent out a list of questions to the British farmers. A great number of answers was received. The substance of theseanswers,as well as other matters of interest in regard to wheat rust, takes up about 50 pages of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society. In regard to ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS, the farmers state that spring frosts, heavy rainfalls, violent changes of temperature and thunder storms are favorable to the development of the rust. So also is un- drained land. Again they say, that wheat sown on PEAT AND CLAY SOILS is more attacked than that sown on gravel and light land, and that wheat put into newly broken land is always covered with rust. The soils above which favor the development of rust have about three per cent of mineral matter; those that are unfavorable, 97 per cent. This proves that Dr. Lawes was correct in saying that wheat sown on soil containing a great deal of organic matter would be very liable to attack from rust. Not only these, but many other facts, gleaned from the farmers' answers are very striking on account of their agreement with the conclusions of scientific workers. Dr. Voelcher's inference that wheat should not be sown after clover was verified by the experience of farmers. They announce that wheat sown after clover is much affected by rust. The immediate value of statistics like those gathered by the Royal Agricultural Society is seen from the knowledge gained in regard to sowing wheat after clover. Much that is learned will have a future rather than a present value. This will be felt, when experimental work needs to be substantiated by direct evidence. Untested statistics may even be of value in avoiding the rust In lieu of something better. NO REMEDY KNOWN. At present the conditions under which rust is developed aro very important,since no remedy is known. Possibly this may be so always, for low plants hold on to life with such tenacity that some persons believe no remedy will be found, for whatever destroys the rust will also destroy the wheat. Would not a series of questions like those which were put to the British farmers be of use in this State? Doubtless much of what would be learned by such questions would already be known to the average farmer. One fact brought out by the above report has long been taken advantage of here I am told; the earlier varieties of wheat are now more sown, and they are sown earlier than formerly because not so much attacked by rust. The British farmers seem to think white wheats suffer more than red. Is this one of the reasons why red wheats are gradually supplanting the white in this part of the country? FALL FLO WHIG. November is the Indian summer month; and though Indian summer is not so marked a feature of our climate as it was when the burning of the leaves of vast forests and the grass of almost boundless prairies filled the atmosphere with smoke so densely that only the red rays of the sun could penetrate it, often continued weeks together, still, we have enough of this grand featuro of an American autumn usually left to give us a month of very favorable weather for closing up the active woik of the farm for the year. The first duty of the farmer in this period is to secure the corn crop of the year, but it is scarcely less important that timely provision be made for the crop of next year. Fall plowing may, in common seasons, be prosecuted successfully through the months of October, November and till the ground is frozen in December. In stubble ground this seldom comes before the middle of the month. There often occurs a thaw in January, giving ten days, or two weeks, in which sod ground may be broken, with good results. In fall or winter breaking, the plow should be set as deep as the capacity of the beam will permit. If a three horse sulky plow can be used, and a furrow ten inches deep be turned, so much the belter; especially if tbe land be a clay soil well under- drained. The effect of this will be to expose the lower portion of the soil to the atmospheric influences, especially to the full effect of freezing, which, by the expansion of the particles of water in becoming ice tends to detach the atoms of soil from each other and when it thaws, leaves them in this divided condition. In this manner the soil is more finely pulverized than is possible by any mechanical means. The freezing of earth is merely the solidi-' fying of the water it contains; and whatever change is made in its physical condition is the effect of that solidification. There are chemical changes, however, made in the soil by its free exposure to the air and sunshine that are important in relation to its productiveness. Ground that is deeply broken in the fall should be only surface plowed in the spring. A good cultivator or spring-tooth harrow will do this work sufficiently well. Of course, fall- plowed ground must not be trodden by stock after being broken. 0-B HEW STATE HOUSE. The quarterly report of the State House commissioners shows that the building is now about ready for the iron roof. The first installment of taxes for 1883 has been collected, and there is now $93,101.44 to the credit of the State-house fund. The expenditures during the last quarter amounted to $84,278.15, of which $36,686.82 was for cut-stone work; J14.944.13 for brick work"; $5,197.15 for iron; $8,823.39 for copper, lead, etc.; $13,206.47 for carpenter work; $1,216.- 44 inside finish; architects, per centage^ $1,327.86; commissioner's salaries,$l,667.2'>. The total expenditures since the construction of the building began is $989,326.74. The building looms up above surrounding blocks and looks as though the heavy and slow work was near completion. A drunken woman severely injured several men by slashing with a knife, on a train on the Wabash road, Thursday night. |
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