The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-09-23
A STATE BULLETIN
ON RUST QUESTION
Prepared by an Expert After
Careful Study of the De-
structive Epidemic.
THE CAUSE AND EFFECT
Not Believed Rust Will Be Destructive
Next Year to Wheat. Unless
Weather Conditions Arc
Favorable.

Sioux Fails. S. d., Sept. 11.-An inn
portant bulletin on wheat rust and It's
causes has just been issued by Pro-
lessor w. A. Wheeler. botanst of the
South Dakota experiment station con-
nected with the state agricultural coll
lege at Brookings AS rust this sea-
lions of dollars to the wheat crop of
South Dakota. the bulletin will be Of
special interest at this time. The bull
letin is the result of Il careful investi-
CATION by one of the leading experts of
the country, and is in part:
The year 1904 has been an especial
ly disastrous one for the wheat crop
of South Dakota and neighboring
states, Tine season, which opened very
favorably for the growth of wheat and
other small grains, promising fair re-
turns, ended disastrously through the
ravages of rust.
The inquiries which have come to
the experiment station concerning the
many phases of the rust problem show
this to be true. The newspapers and
agricultural papers have published va
ried accounts of the rust, some of
which have been wholly or in part cor
rect while others have been absolutely
false. Many facts in regard to the life
history of rusts in general are We'll
known tc scientists. Many others are.
however, doubtfully understood, and
these problems still remain to be
solved.
"Rusts. smuts, mldews and, in fact,
nearly all plant diseases. are caused
by small parasitic plants living de-
pendent upon other plants for their
existence. The powdery mildews per
haps exhibit this dependence of one
plant upon another more clearly than
rusts or smuts
".All species OF kinds of rusts are bet
ter known upon the wheat plant than
are the other host plants. and many
facts still remain to be discovered as
to the relations between the various
kinds of wheat rust and their other
hosts.
/ ".rhe black stem rust of wheat may
be discovered early in the season upon
the stems of the wheat and exhibits
itself as red lines upon the surface OF
the wheat plant. These red lines are
formed by the breaking of the covering
of the leaf or stem and the forcing out
of red spores or reproductive bodies of
the rust plant, which is living within
the wheat plant. This stage is com
monty called the red rust The red
rust spores. or summer spores, may be
scattered by the wind from one wheat
plant to another. or to thousands of
other wheat plants. They lodge upon
the leaves and stems of the wheat, and
f
moisture they germinate there form
ing new threads which enter the plant
through small pores in the surface of
the leaf aad stem. AS soon as the
4 threads have gained am entrance to the
new plant they grow Very rapidly. TAX
/ ing up nourishnent from the wheat
plant and in Il short time they are able
to project new red rust or summer
spores, through the surface of the plant
+ in which they grow.
''These red rust spores may then IN
turn be blown to other wheat plants,
and so on through the summer season.
From these same threads growing with
in the wheat plant are produced late i'll
the season, or as the wheat is beginning
to ripen. masses of black spores. The
black spores, OF winter ,pores. arise
from the Sits in the surface of the
leaf or stem from which the red rust
spores arose. or they may arise from
new sits in the surface of the plant.
The black spores do not blow about as
do the red rust spores, as they are
4 fastened firmly to the threads of rust
/ i'm the wheat plant by short stalks.
I These black or winter spores do not i'm
any way that is known infect other
wheat plants. They have been known,
however, to live through the winter
and bring about infection the next
year on Barberry bushes. They do not
/
4 terminate upon the old wheat stems
where they are formed. producing sev-
eral small spores, which may be blown
to the leaves of the Barberry bushes,
| thereby bringing about infection much
\ the same as the red rust spores bring
about infection upon the wheat plant
where winter wheat is grown in
/ warmer climates the threads of the
rust in the leaves or stem of the wheat
/ plant live through the winter and pro-
4 iuce red rust spores the following sea
1 son. In cold or temperate climates ex-
] perimenterS h:--N been unable as yet to
demonstrate this From a careful study
of the necessary facts in the life his
1 tory of whea. rust, several points may
( be deducted. The condition of the
/ weather for several weeks following the
/ first infection of the wheat is one of the
most important factors in causing q
/ Very extensive distribution or epidemic
of the rust. There are very few if any
+ seasons in which no fust can be found
I upon the wheat
4 Warm. moist weather. with heavy
I dews and fogs. is favorable to the ger
/ mination of the red rust spores. Slight
/ breezes are. of course, necessary for
the distribution of the red rust spores
In South Dakota it is very seldom that
| there is not sufficient wind to distribute
the spores far and wide. Dry winds
coming at the right time and continu-
/ ing for several days usually check the
/ distribution and spread of the rust
Professor Bolley, of the North Dakota
| station, considers that poor drainage of
| the soil is also one of the important
factors in favorng the development OF
rust. Excessive applications of nitro
genous fertilizers to the soil. or any
thing which favors the production of a
succulent growth of the wheat plant
tends to make it more susceptible tc
/ attacks of rust.
Preventatives and remedies for wheat
rust are hard to find, because of the
fact that the rust cannot be easily
reached for treatment in any of its
stages. The application Of any fungi
eide. such as copper sulphate or for