The Atlanta constitution., 1896-11-23
The Prevention of Cotton Trust.

The blight. commonly called rust, -
fungus disease attacking the Teal OF 'he
cotton plant and IS more or less Pr'Nai aiel''
in tho cotton Leit during every sIoMiio
so2son. no section Il ever entirety Tree
from it. and during some years its deVasta-
ttone .,,c ,yidcsnread and calamitous In eX-
tom. There can bo no question OF the
e.r-iousuess of the trouble nor Of the Na!He
of any means for diminishing It's raVaSes'
Che present season has been one OF 'N-
captlonal prevalence ana INJURY 50 tIi''
there is an unusual interest In the question
of preventing repetitions Of sueh V'S''"-
tions.
The first fact presenting itself 20 any OBJ
serraut person is the prevalence OF rust IN
certain localities. while others apparently
identical IN all tho characteristics on Wih'h
the crop producing power Of SOILS depehu'
are entirely exempt, frequently ulH'er "ii'
ownership and identical IN treatment
Presence OF tho disease. therefore, is not
th. result of contagfon or of difference IN
cropping or treatment. Il must be funna-
mentally the result OF some peculiarly OF
the soil itself whereby one field may escape
while another suffers tho full effects oi the
devastation.
The question. therefore, naturally arises
what soils arc most frequently and serious
~ aHe-ted? Any careful Observer of conc'-
ti0ns will admit two facts. Namely, that
sqLdy soils ana thoze i'm n depleted or eN-
haustcd condition invariably suffer most
irdccd. almos. exclusively. Sandy soils are
those most deficient in plant nutrition or
tho most easily exhausted Of the same 10y
repeated cropping It therefore shows that
the presence Of rust Is sure Indicative OF
an iusuficieucy in quantity OF available nu-
triment. Consequently, the natural ana
effective way for countcraetlng this condl-
tiCn and preventing the evil IS through sup
plying The requisite quantity of required
plant-food.
Consider this proposition n moment
Plants and animals are all exposed to the
attacks of disease Two individuals may be
subjected TO the same disease. one escapes
wholly or suffers but slightly, While the
other may Succumh entirely The stronger
the individual or the better he is nourished.
the greater the power of resisting disease
The weaker the individual or the less per-
fcctly nourished. tho greater his suscepti-
bility to attack.
Applying this principle to the protection
Of cotton from rust. the all important Ques-
tion is: what plant food must be supplied?
Sandy soils are most attacked. Their nat
ural growth IS Pine timber Thcv are
wo6d ts, that N.ilcn GurGcd. tie 'Tra;i,Ittin,
ashes arc useless for making I've; they CON
tain comparatively little potash. These
lands therefore furnish little potash to the
plants or trees growing ON them. Analysis
shows these soils 20 be deficient in potash.
Potash IS known to possess specific action
toward certain fungus diseases Kainlt has
been recommended by most southern ex-
pertinent stations as specific on the sup
position that the magucsia 1t contains act
cc IS protection against the rust. Bur
l1ainit l. simply form of potash salt
A natural Inference from these facts,
therefore, is that tine presence OF rust Is
an indication of. and the result of. lack
OF potash in the soil. and that supplying
THIS deficiency would ba followed Jv i'm