Middletown transcript., 1868-11-07
9oritultural Department,
From the Richmond, Va. Despatch.
: THE WHEAT CROP.
INQUIRY INTO THE CAUSES OF ITS FREQUENT
FAILURE,

The repeated failure of the wheat crops
of Virginia for a series of years-sone-
times the almost total naturally
leads to an investigation of the causes.
Under the full conviction that these are
in a great measure removable, and that
with proper precautions the culture of
wheat may be rendered as safe and re-
munerative in this climate now as for
merly, few suggestions are respectively
submitted to the farmers Of the State.
Perhaps the greatest evil that wheat
growers have to contend with is the rust.
This, however, is no more incidental to
our climate (other things being equaD
than to any other where wheat is cultiva-
ted extensively. We frequently have
superabundance of rain, but seldom so
much as in England, the successes of
whose harvests materially depends on
few good days at the period of maturity.
Excess of rain there is apt to produce
sprouting in the field-a disaster which
seldom happens here. If the English
farmers can escape this, and get their
wheat housed or stacked in good order.
the country is seldom afflicted by the eA.
lamity of short crop. 1t may be some-
times above aud sometimes below an av-
erage; but the weight of the grain (the
test by which its quality is to be judged)
is believed to be seldom or never so def
cient as it has been with the greater part
of the Virginia crop for several years
To avoid rust, the causes which induce
it should be understood. Modern science
has shed much light on the subject. Rust
is not the effect of extravasation of the
sap of the stem and blades, consequent on
a plethoric growth of the plant. 1t comes
from without and not from within. 1t is
in fact fungus, developed only at cer-
tain season, and under certain atmospheric
conditions. The air is filed with myriads
of spores, understandable to the naked eye |;
and these settling on a rank growth of
wheat in sultry weather soon germinate,
and the fungus or parasite is developed as
if by magic The black rust strikes its
roots into the stalk and blade, rupturing
the organism and feeding on the juices of
the plant while the attachment of the
red rust is so slight as to yield partially to
hasty shower of rain. The latter is
more or less injurious i'll its effects, but
the former is destructive.
While there is no absolute preventive
against rust, it is very practicable, by
J judicious preparation of the soil and a
judicious selection of varieties, to escape
sons of careful observation are aware that
it does not make its appearance-we are
now speaking particularly of the black
rust-until about the middle, say from the
10th to the 18th of June, when the stalk
has attained its full growth, the grain just
formed, and by the time, or rather before,
any change in color has taken place. The
ranker the growth the more liable is the
crop to be attacked. In wheat ripening
hy the 18th of June the rust scarcely ever
makos 1t appearance; when it ripens later
than the goth it seldom escapes ripen-
ing on or about the Goth, as it generally
does In this climate, the weather for sew
eral DAYS previous is watched with intense
anxiety, as the safety of the crop is de-
| pendent on clear skies and dry winds.
A kind of wheat that would pretty
| uniformly ripen by the 10th of June would
r be an inestimable treasure to the wheat
> growers of Virginia. We have had such
varieties in past times, and why cannot
we have them again9 Many persons now
: living, remember the old white May wheat
r and early purple straw. They came to
the scythe in very few days of each
5 other, the former being little earlier Of
, the two. The white May was sometimes
cut in the last week In May; generally
the first week In June, scarcely ever later
than the 10th. It was, without doubt,
the most perfect wheat ever grown in this
climate, making -four superior to any
manufactured in these days, and often
: weighing sixty six pounds to the bushel.
It was also very productive on rich land,
frequently yielding upwards of thirty
bushels to the acre. The purple straw
0 was equally productive, perhapa rather
: more SO, and weighed well; but it was an
!, unsightly grain. A lot of seven acres is
i remembered, which yielded forty bushels
to the acre. Both of these varieties have
long become extinct, more through care
e lessness, probably, in saving pure seed
: than from any other canse. Since then O
e long catalogue of varieties might be emu
merated, each having a run for few years
and then giving place to new favorite.
Il We would earnestly recommend tC
= wheat-growers to spare no pains and nj
e reasonable expense in endeavoring to pro
cure some one or more varieties ripenine
earlier than those now in common cult
~ walton. We see such advertised by thu
n seedsmen, and they are at least worthy o
= a trial. But even when obtained, anc
they are found to give satisfaction, th'
utmost vigilance should be exercised il
h preventing them from degenerating, Diff
: ferept kinds of wheat seeded on the SAM
! farm, and ripening about the same time
y are exceedingly liable to mix j; and this i
believed to be one of the chief causes o
" the speedy deterioration of so many ia
vorite varieties. We once knew of a gen
tleman who made it regular practice t
,e go through his weat-6elds every year a
| fhe orain was rineninn cnrefnllu selnctin.