The Bemidji pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Beltrami County, Minn.) 1896-1917, 1901-03-28
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
ny AORIcULTURISTS.

Some Up-to-Dste Hints About Cultlva-
tion OF the Soil and Yields Thereof--
horticulture. yitinultnrs and Fioricul-
turs.
Treatment for Celery Blight
Charles o. Townsend, state patholo-
gist OF Maryland, says:
The great hindrance to the success
full production OF celery in this state,
is the, disease known as Rust or Blight.
This disease Is produced by fungus
that attacks the leaves and stems caus-
Ing them to assume yellowish color,
with brown spots scattered over them
that increase in size, until the affected
leaves and stems die. II the conditions D
are favorable for the development Of
the fungus the leaves viii become at
fected so rapidly and to such an ex-
tent that the life OF the plant will pc
destroyed. II the conditions for the
development Of the fungus are less faY-
orable, only the outer leaves Will ole,
while the newer leaves will be but par
TALLY destroyed. The result will be a I
small plant OF inferior quality. During
the past two years the rust has been
80 destructive in this state that NUM-
Der OF growers have aband oned the
raising Of this otherwise satisfactory
crop. There is no fixed time for the
appearance Of celery rust, but 1t is US
ually to be seen after drought q
longer or shorter duration, followed
by warm, damp weather. 1t must ne
remembered that these weather condl-
lions alone will not produce rust, put
that the fungus spores must pc pres
ent before the rust can make It's ap-
pearance.
In combating the disease therefore
it is necessary either to produce those
conditions under which the spores can
not terminate, or to spray some fungi
eide upon the plants that will destroy
the spores or at least prevent them
from terminating. In order to deter
mine which method Of procedure
would be best, and for the purpose OF
finding a satisfactory remedy for the
celery rust, number Of experiments
were undertaken on the college
grounds. From a part Of one OF tne
celery beds four plats OF about equal
size were laid off and treated as foi-i
lows: No. was shaded, No. was
sprayed with ammoniacal carbonate
Of copper, No. 3 was sprayed with Boz
deaux mixture while No. A was left un-
treated for comparison. In shading
No. a framework 18 inches nlgn
was built over the plat, and over tnls
framework, was spread a single thick
| ness Of muslin which was left In place
during the hot season OF July ana AN
gust. and was removed only to Work
the plants.
The ammoniacal carbonate Of cop
per used in No. was made by placing
one ounce of copper carbonate in Just
enough ammonia water to dissolve #
and then diluting to nine gallons with Win
ordinary we'll water. The amount q
ammonia water required per ounce OF
copper carbonate, was about one hall
pint which was diluted to two quarts
before the copper carbonate was placed
In It. In plat No. 3, the Bordeaux mix
ture used was the ordinary strength
and prepared from stock solutions.
These solutions were applied with the
aid of knapsack sprayer.
The treatment of the celery was not
begun until the rust had made It's ap-
pearance, hence the leaves that had
been attacked died In spite Of the
| treatment, as was expected, showing
that the measures used must be pre-
ventive and not curative, and should
therefore be begun before the plants
are attacked. Some of the leaves that
| were not diseased before shading, be-
came affected after the shading was
done, but the plants We're IN much
better condition than those in plat 4,
which received no treatment. The am
moniacal carbonate OF copper and the
Bordeaux mixture both kept the
healthy leaves free from the attacks
of fungus, but the plants sprayed with
the ammoniacal carbonate seemed to
make q better growth than those
sprayed with Bordeaux mixture
Whether the growth was retarded by
the Bordeaux mixture or hastened py
the Ammonia solution it was impos-
sible to determine. ALI the plants
sprayed lived, while OF those not treat
ed about one half died, and the remain
| ing half were smaller than the treated
plants owing to the constant attack
Of the fungus and the consequent loss
Of leaves. The conclusion is therefore
that the rust may be satisfactorily
controlled by spraying; that ammo
niacal carbonate promises better re-
suits than Bordeaux mixture, and that
shading, as used in these tests, is only
partially successful in preventing cell
cry rust.
| Forests Will Be Reserved.
By trading nearly million acres of