Delaware Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1843-1874, 1873-07-24
AarifnltnraI.
FROM tLle FeniesuIar N1lns.

From the Feniesuldr Noes.
RUsr IN WuEAr.-To wheat growers scarce
ly any subject can be more interesting than an
inquiry into the causes which produce that fatal
blight, called Rust, in wheat. Nor could any
discovery be more useful than that oil certain
specific against this blight.
The undersigned does hot intend to wri,ra
dissertation ON the many varieties Of
wheat nor 10 suggest the best and iuost !
profitable OF those Varieties nor the most !
valuable fertilizers; nor tie best mode of cult
Walton; nor enter into chemical analysis Of
| the constituents of this invaluable cereal. But
| it is only proposed to submit, briefly, to the
readers ofyomE very valuable and popular journal.
a few plain, practical observations ON the diseas-
es in wheat, called .ahe Rust,r and to suggest.
As the undersigned believes, a preventive Tor
this Reconsideration and suggestions found
ed on actual, and entirely successful, expert
| meut.
II has been The experience Of agriculturists
that very warm, stltry weather, toggy mornings,
or frequent light rains, followed by return OF
bright sunshine, altogether, while the whea, is
in milky state, produce Rust. What are the
influences of these several conditions of III,
weather upon the stem, or stalk of the wheat
which produce this result? 1t may be here re-
marked, that the combined effects of these fops
sultry weather, and frequent rains, ARE to induce
rapid growth of the plant, and to render ii
very soft and succulent. In this state, the hot
suns following Immediately upon the fogs, show
ers, and sutry weather, suddenly contract The
stem of the wheat, and split it longitudinally
, into numerous small assures, all around the
stem. Then the sap of the plant enaudes through
: the assures the atmosphere oridizes this SAP,
giving it reddish color, and this is the Rust
r 1t necessarily follows, that the sap being ar
\ rested in its flow through the stem, thrown ont
: upon thu surface, and diverted from the head
A the grain must fail for want of nourishment.
Sowe years ago, having several bushels o,
| nE.I hnu aud u.
, experiment, by spreading these ashes upon nv
i wheat. Accordingly, when the wheat was be.
n ginning 10 joint, and when there was a Sigh
"a mist directed my laborer to spread, with tht
Ia hand, these ashes upon my wheat, at the rate
v of perhaps eight bushels to the acre. IL cam,
y on to rain too hard for him to continue Til
~ labor, and he left off spreading iu the middl,
'e of a land.
or The Rnst was general and fatal that wear il
ma my neighborl,ood, and my wheat, where tn,
ashes had not fallen, well as the wheat il
m The neishborhood, was so much injured by thi
T. disease as tn be hardly worth saving but | re
marked, with surprise and pleasure, that whei
ever the ashes had fallen Upon the wheat, eve
:, up 10 .he middle Of the land where the labo
~ was discontinued, my wheat was splendid, tn
Stems being strong, vigorous, and OF brigl
color,and taller by several inches than where Ii
ashes had not been sown, whilst the head
h. were heavy and full, and the grain perfect.
~. Here, then, beyond question, was al cxper
,n mont perfectly satisfactory in iee
ecu in its results
a., Now, as to the effects of ashes upon whea
lhey nave, like Shakespeare's "shelry sack"
lhree-fold oreration:'
'D /. The ashes operate as manure upon Il
-, wheat, even In the limited quantity Of eisl
y bushels per acre
re ?. They push the wheat forward several day
ha and IN time to escape the hot sultry days viii,
,;s often prevail about the time of the ..healil
MS out" of the wheat.
W ,. They strengthen the stem, giving it SUI
stance and sodty.
aS | may add one or two morc properties of d
ire ashes, beyond those mentioned; they offer
80 lust that kind of pabulum, or food, which
c, best for the development and perfection of d
If grain, and will, in my opinion, also prevent
"a. ! ravages OF the fly in wheat. | would here We
IT, tire the remark, that whoever once tries Il
,ea experiment will thereafter spread his wood a.
in. rs upon his wheat AS above Indicated and,
NJ, 50 doing, he will eilectnally guard against a
.nu prevent the "Rust" in the wheat. C.SI,
any Sussex Co, Del.