The Smoky Hill and Republican union. [volume] (Junction City, Kan.) 1861-1864, 1864-06-25
Aqritnltural Column.
Rust of Wheat and its Remedies.

lQe OlueSL OI our ulstOTleS, Tue d.
BILE, frequently alludes to it as common
among the Jews, and represented it as
one of the punishments inflicted on the
disobedient people. They were warned
that disohedience would be followed
with blasting and with mildew;;' and
when thus punished, the prophet Haggai
says: 4 smote you with blasting, and
with mildew, and with hail, in all the
labors Of your hands; yet ye turned not
to me, saith the Lord The Hebrew
name for the rust, yarcoon, meaning a
yellow color caused by moisture, is in
dicative Of the cause and appearance Of
the disease as we find them now. The
Grecian and Roman writer's have trans
mitted to US like names and causes.
The Greeks call it erusitee, and the
Romans rubigo. Ovid, describing the
rubigalia, religious festival established
by one Of the earliest rulers Of Rome,
makes the priest say, IF the sun fer
vently heats the moist stalks, then, 0
dread Goddess, is the opportunity for
thy dread wrath. Be merciful, l pray,
and withhold thy rusting hands from
the crops In all times, and among
every civilized people, this disease ex-
listed, and moist stalk heated by hot
sun is the cause Of it; hence, heavy
dews, precipitated by clear, cool nights,
succeeded by hot sun during the day,
soon develop the disease now, as it did
in the most ancient periods. 1t was not
until the microscope was invented that
the true nature Of the disease was
known. There is species of plant
which lives on the sap of other plants,
called parasite. The rust and smut are
plants Of this character. The micro
scope shows the fact that rust is per-
fectly formed plant, having roots, stems
and branches, and producing seed too
small for the unaided eye to dicover.
These exist in innumerable quantities
in the atmosphere, awaiting the condi-
ton essential to their termination and
development. What these are we have
already seen. In the language Of Ovid,
they are the sun fervently beating on
the moistened stalks. When this mois-
ture proceeds from showery weather, no
danger need be apprehended; but when
from dews precipitated by cool nights,
then the rust rapidly develops itself.
whether the moisture in drying so rapid
~ causes contraction Of the outer por-
ton Of the stem so as to induce split
ting, or whether the GOODNESS Of the
night causes it, is not certainly ascer-
tanned. Be this as it may, the result is
the samoan imperceptible splitting of
the straw through which the sap oozes
out. The invisible and multitudinous
seeds Of the rust attach themselves to
this sap, and burying themselves in it,
rapidly vegetate, striking their roots in
the openings Of the straw, thus divert
ing to themselves the sap Of the plant,
which should go to the filling out and
ripening Of the grain. Hence it so rapidly
shrivels and often becomes worthless.
''What is the remedy against this
evil. The Romans sacrificed q red
bitch ON the altar Of the Goddess Rubi-
60, the priest entreating her to withhold
her rusting hands. If the farmers
could be persuaded to sacrifice all bitches
to the goddess, then an altar ought to be
erected on every farm, for the indirect
benefit to the wheat crop by increased
sheep. husbandry would more than COM
pensate all losses from the rest.
''The Jewish prophets regarded the
blasting and mildew as a punishment
for the sins Of the people. When a
people by rebellion, under such high |
condition of prosperity as exhibited by |
the census Of 1860, seeks its own and
the destruction Of others, and the over
throw of the best Government the world
has seen, blasting and the mildew Of
the wheat crop will not stay their impi.
GUS hands. But, regarding the remedy
for rust, through the microscope, we find
that it is not in all stages Of the growth
Of the plant that the straw is liable to
split under heavy dews and hot sun.
1t is not in its growing state, but in its
ripening stage only, that this result is
produced. Hence, whatever rapidly
skortens the ripening stage lessons the
danger. For this purpose this is moth
ing equal to stable manure, the precise
effects Of which on the soil and on the
wheat crop will be stated under the head
of manures. Another remedy is in i'm
mediate harvesting when the crop is af-
sected by the rust. The following in
'tructive experiments on this point l find
n Mr.. Klippart's essay on wheat. Mr..