Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1878-10-10
AGRICULTURAL.
Miscellaneous Items of General and Sea-
sonable Interest to the Tillers of the Soil.


which attack the straw, the leaves an,
chaif, the flower, the grain. His disma,
increases when u microscopic botanist
Bauer, informs HIM that so minute ar
the spores of UredO Segetrm that the on
hundred and sixty thousandth part of
square inch contained forty-nine of them
and one grain of wheat is capable Of con
tanning 100000 of spores. And whel
the most scientific bOtanist asCribe the po
tatO disease to the presence of a fungus
the gardener joins the farmer in bewail
ing their impOtency to resist such pest
Many fungi prey on the tissue of living
leaves; and from this cause the cultiva
tion of the vine is everywhere precarious
and in Madeira had few years ago beer
almost abandoned, though happily thu
mischief is now arrested. The careful
housewife is sOrcly tried to find her pre-
serves, cheese, bread, moldy; her bee
'mothy," her catsup ropy and offensive
and all from the presence of fungi. If
in her dismay, she exclaimed: But how
happens it that cheese is mOldy at it.
very ccnter?' the botanist may reply;
"Thc fungus germs floating in the air hat
various opportunities of finding admis
sion, They were perhaps deposited or
the grass, the grass was eaten by the COW
and so the germs were lodged in the milk;
or germs fell upon the curd, and there
lay dormant till the dampncss of the
cheese brought into action their vegetivC
powers" The wine merchant, in like
manner, experiences heavy losses when
his casks are wrapped in u fungus which
has drained them of their precious con.
tents. In the vaults of the London Docks,
a vinous fungus hangs from the roof like
dark. woolly clouds, completely shrouding
the brick arches. A remarkable instance
of this kind is noticed by Sir Joseph
Banks. He placed in his cellar cask Of
wine in order that it might ripen. At the
end of three years he wished to ascertain
its condition. but found access to the eel
lar impossible, owing to something OBJ
structing the opening of the door. The
door having been cut down, the cellar was
found to be completely filed with a fungus
growth of so firm texture that it required
an axe for its removal. While the
goWmct makes wry face when finding
his choicest wine undrinkablc, owing to il
fungus which first attacks the casks, the
gO,UWdW mathematics the fungi which
render his dantlcst cooked yiands uneat-
able. We shall only give another instance
Of their destructive agency in connection
with household economy.
What dismay is produced by the wood
work of our houses being attacked by dry
rot The rlyagcS occaSiOned by fungi in
men and other animals are largely treated
Of by medical authors. The silk worm on
whose labOrS so many millions depend for
and clothing, pcriShes in i'm
mcnsc numbers from the attacks of the
fungus termed muscardmc. And the ar
titicial rearing of fish is seriously inter
iercd with, owing to the vitality of the de-
posted Ord being destroyed by an cnyelop-
ing fungus. Enough has been said to cx-
plain the popular prejudice against fungi,
which is apparently justified when we
chronicle certain other disagreeablc char
actcristics. Many of them are rcpulsivc
in form and color. In not a few the smell
is tolrrably offensive; and, worst of all,
the taste is yirulently poisonous. The
mere tasting Of some of them experiment.
ally has produced contraction of the jaws,
sickness, pain and heat in the stomach,
and slight dcirium. Bad may 90 on to
worse, and the rash inquirer may be afilic.
led with riddincss, debility, loss of sight
md recollection. burning thirst, vomiting,
and violent gripcs, Moreover
several hours may clapsc before alarming
symptoms appear and thus it may be too
ate for the adoption of measures TO elm
nate the poison.-Good Words.
sv,.r ~ WHEAT ,xn orrpv u, ,xr,
,,,;e o., e '',,,, .. ,,''p ~ y % y '.,, 60. 80
, a seirtut"I PIpcl ~ N i 2HtalScr'
'oNrr''IIlcli. % An"'y!lc"' olGilliSI a' queens
anu, AuSS'a''", ,IJ ~, iS punished III the
I"eeHSsIH"eI. lnla pIPcr .aPpc'rS 10 DC
very 1glc % ,lllu couipttllcilsNc one on ,n the
o,GD,, uisunSrs o' 'ne grIlllllc'' Inc
o''. ''',iV'l "tti,.u "I lii i''':ou " Slic
inut Vi, ..!rp !Tic Wnc"t plahI Io gwen Us lol-
owS' nv ililttiiuili, ai"ayS cNcGellihS'
.lllc ailt M''eiy , HlSPerscG' PER grows through
t,se ior'lUiIn % =, .,lc pant, ~ comes
3wtNrI, c oillE ~ ttlu"' II ParlS Il tie most
,nC @ 10 n n,IvIi'I".lot L, tlrtc aI tnt So,uaiiea
ycctI.S pneS "eeo'nc n,niI nlarhtS cIpaDIc
PtI",I SloiS ts,reS Se'TTTy Thcy,o "y nUsor
~; i,' ,hnu,SI'i i,roeCT v,'9v J l nVSu "l.'iiells
norrs These snorrs occnnv t%cn % os
ark masses of dust, the place of the de-
troycd tissue of the host-plant, and by
ecav of the plant become free. The part
f the plants in which these ustilarinen
,uctify are very different, according 70
he hoSt.plant they live on. For instance.
stilapo carbo common smut infects the
hole ear of the infected cereal, The M.
tia carles attacks the interior of the
the ustilapo antberrarnm
no interior of thc antberes of thc family
T sileneT, etc, Ustllago corbo can easily
@ cmed by steepinp the seed of the cereaI
estined for propagation in solution of
bemicals, generally bluestone isulnhote
conner although many others mighf
a. ffhis solution DESTROYS comnietelv 7bc
oorcs If ustilaro carlo without ofFect;ng
,c gcrminatinS Qualities Of thc seed ;S
10 least. II is. therefore. in the hands of
10 farmer TO prevent the snrend of nsti.
100 corbo ctc and Il will Ina onlv biS
lult if his harvest is ever attacked by il.
ven if the seed wheat is stepped in n
rong solution OF salt, the appearance of
nut is prevented. "
PRESERVING TIMBER.
Tho iunrovomonts in soturot;ro wood
nj t;mhar inrnntcd hy II Sa;msI7rr'' moV of
nr;s cono;st in cmnlov;ro Soiyti;on
'rmcd in fbr relative oSnrooximatn I,"rT nro.
rrtims Of woter one tbonsanJ I;tres. @ :
NM ms s,xtecn Iilos. sulpbate of conner ]
ytaen kilos hromido Of soJ;nm " ono oIIG;IIn' IG;Io'
,d ;odidr of soJium onc L;ln For % tbn
,rnose ", % of The invention he % nrcfers ~ nIac. @ !
a q The timber or wood to bc treated i in
5se a. W., vessel from which bo draws off F. ali Il :,