Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1904-09-15
the following season. In cold or
temperate climates experimenters
have been unable as vet to demon
strate this.

strate this.
From a careful study of the neces-
sary facts in the life history of
wheat rust, as given here, several
points may be deducted.
l.. The condition of the weather
for several weeks following the first
infection of the wheat is one of the
most important factors in causing a
very extensive distribution or cpl
demic of the rust. There are very
few if any seasons in which no rust
can be found upon the wheat. The
extent or the distribution, however.
is probably very largely or almost
entirely due to weather or soil con.
ditions existing during the period of
rapid growth of the wheat. Warm,
moist weather, with heavy dews and
fogs, is favorable to the termination
OF the red rust spores. Slight
breezes are of course necessary for
the distribution of the red rust
spores. La South Dakota it is very
seldom hat there is not sufficient
wind to distribute the spores far and
wide. Dry winds coming at the
right time and continuing for several
days usually check the distribution
and spread of the rust. 1t will be
seen, then, that the weather, though
not the underlying cause of rust, is
probably the most important factor
in making in epidemic. Professor
Bolley, of the North Dakota station,
considers that poor drainage of the
soil is also one of the important fac
tors in favoring the development of
rust. Excessive applications of
heterogeneous fertilizers to the soil, or
anything which favors the produc-
ton of a succulent growth of the
wheat plant, tends to make it more
susceptible to attacks of rust. 1t is
not at all strange that before the
life history of the trusts were known
the weather was considered the only
cause. Statements that the sun
breaks open the surface of the leaf
and that the red and black forma-
tions are caused by the the sap exud-
ing from these Sits are of course
erroneous.
2. Early wheat having a uniform
period of ripening is more likely to
be free from rust than late wheat or
wheat whose ripening period extends
over some time. Winter wheat is
much less likely to be injured by
rust than spring wheat, because of
its early ripening. This fact has
been brought out by experimenters
in other states as we'll as in South
Dakota.
3. Preventives and remedies for
wheat rusts are hard to find because
of the fact that the rust cannot be
easily reached for treatment in any
of it's stages. The application of
any fungicide, such as copper sui
plate or formaline, to the seed grain
is absolutely ineffective, as shown by
the fact that the seed grain does not
hafbor in any way the spores or
threads of the rust plant. The
application of fungicides to the
growing wheat is so impracticable
that very few experiments have been
carried on in this direction. The
destruction of barberry bushes does
not e to be of any great import
ance, from the fact that it is very
improbable that the barberry is an
important factor in causing the
extensive raids of trusts. The burn
ing of badly infected straw may or
may not be desirable in preventing
the spread of the disease. If n
alternate host, whether barberry or
other plant, should be found to be
the prime agent in completing the
life history of the disease, the burn
ing of straw over infected areas and
the destruction of the other hosts
would be advisable. The selection
of rust-proof or rust resistant yarie-
ties of wheat or other small grains
appears to be the most promising
n