Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-12-22

A farmer in Eastern North Caro-
lima sent Us last sumner some cotton
leaves affected. ~ be said, by the red
rust A brief examination showcd
that there Was no rust at aIl, that il,
none OF the usual fungous gro~tha
commonly called rustA The leaves
we're badly infested with.4he so.callcd
''red spider" (Tctranychus telariusI.
one Of the miteA The brilliant red
color and almost microscopic sire ci
the insects. together With their multi.
tude, gave the leaves, particularly on
the under side. red color. The uhr
healthy condition OF tho leaScs syAA
due to the attacks Of tho insects. When
they become numerous under the in;
huence OF hot and dry weather. EA6y
destroy the vitality Of the foliage COM
pletely. and a healthy foliage is es-
sential to growth and productiveness
in any plant, it is evident that they
must give . serious check TO the
plants they infect. Close observers ot
plant life have often noticed thle
plants with weakened vitality soonest
become the prey Of insects. While
We cannot control the weather
or the temperature, We can pnt
our plants from the start in such
q vigorous condition by fcrtiliza-
tion and by good culture a. to enable
them to resist better the attacks of in
sects and fungous disesses. This has
caused some to assert that red rust il
caused by deficiency OF potash in
the soil. While this in one sense is
| true, it is not the whole truth. Had
there been an abundance Of potash
and other elements Of plant food in
the soil the vigorous vitality OF the
| plants would have enablcd them to re-
sist the influence of tho insects until
change in the weather conditions
would have checked their operations.
Cotton we'll supplied with kainit and
acid phosphate will undoubtedly suffer
less from this red rust. not because
potash drives the mites. but because .
fully nourished plant can better over
come untowari circumstances than Z
weak one can. Therefore the best We
can do Is to SO encourage the growth
of the plants as to make them resistant
to their attacks In nearly all of the
cotton lands Of the South Atlantic
Coast the soil is naturally deficien,
in potash. Hence the wisdom oi
using kainit and other forms oi
potash fertilizers, with o good nd
dition of phosphoric acid in the
readily accessible form OF acid phos
phate, to give that vigorous growth
| which the nnaided aoil in most placer
cannot supply. Some of our bes'
growers are Of the opinion that red
clover on o sandy soil causes rust il
cotton. This will account for the fac
that on our red clay soils, which ar'
we'll adapted to clover, and where il
most seasons it resists the rcd spider
no such influence has been observet
on the cotton. The weakened cohdi
tion Of the clover on these sandy land
renders it an easy prey to the attack
of the mites, and from their profusiol
on the clover they may we'll be charges
with injecting the cotton. Th
remedy is evident as in the case OF th
cotton itself-invigornte the clover o
these lands in the same way. Glove
is q greedy consumer Of potash an
lime, and if these sandy lands ar
lined, and we'll supplied with potassi
fertilizers, clover would find bette
, conditions, grow more vigorously an
be less infected with insects and henc
not liable to damage the cotton an
more than on the clay lands. w.
Massey. OF n. G. Experiment Station