Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1906-01-11
INTERESTING Nj {.
BULLETIN ON RUST
The Government Issues an Elk.
haustive Treatise on The Rust
Epidemic Of 1904.

dIlucIS OAIAtOAA4 w. SAO, ASoo0N
by the Department of Agriculture at !
Washington, D. c., is at hand, It'll
treats of the different grain rpsts,
with especial reference to it's effect |
during the crop year of 1904.
The bulletin makes very good read
ing and is of special interest to the
people of this vicinity, who suffered
so from the results of the black rust
year ago, and who were not entire
1y free from it's effects in 1905.
We print few extracts, which, it
will be seen, are plain and directly to
the point;
sit is fact not generally known,
and yet of much Importance for our
actual knowledge of conditions, that
there are several different kinds of
rusts that attack grains and that the
existence of any one of these has no
relation whatever to the occurrence
of any of the others, except in the
mere coincidence that they all thrive
and propagate much more rapidly in
wet weather than in dry weather.
Each of the cereals, wheat and
OATS is affected by two distinct rusts.
One of these is found chiefly on the
leaves and causes very slight dam
age, if any, On wheat it is. called the
''orange leaf' rust and on the oat
plant it is called the ''croWn" rust,
because of the fact that the spores at
their upper portions have the form of
a crown. The other kind of rust on
each of these cereals is called ''black
STEM rust, which, in seasons of
great severity, is found in much
abundance on the stems. In the sea-
son of 1904, as we'll as in all other sea-
sons when rust has done any great
amount of damage, it was this black
stem rust that caused the injury. 1t
always appears little later than the
leaf rust, and until it does occur no
particular injury to the plant can be
noticed. Many varieties of grain
that ripen early, therefore, often es-
cape damage by being able to mature
just before the black stem rust ap-
pears in any considerable quantity:
Naturally there has been some dis
cussion of the question why there
should have been such an unusual
prevalence of rust in 1904, and the
incorrectness of certain theories
should be pointed out. In the
first place, it is not true that the
rust is more abundant on exhausted
soils and that there is any increase
in rust from year to year simply be-
cause the soils are becoming ''worn
out.' Neither is it true in principle
that the weaker plants are more rust
ed than others. This seems to be
true in the case of some other plant
diseases, but in al. attacks of rust it
is, on the contrary, a fact that the
healthiest plants are as a. rule the
worst rusted, and for tn. very natural
reason that whatever conditions are
best for the. plant are also Favorable
for the rust. 1t is no doubt partly
for this reason that some believe that
the fertility Of the soil is concerned,
as, of course, if the plants grow
more rankly in a more fertile soil,
other things equal, they will have
more rust. 1t is not, however, be-
cause of any particular element in
the fertile soil. that the rust is special
ly abundant, but chiefly because of
the greater quantity of water and
therefore softer tissue in the growing
plant.
The simple reasons for the unusal
abundance of rust in 1904 are (1) the
fact that there was an unusual guam
tity of moisture just at the proper
time for the rust to do the most dam
age to the crop and (2) the unusual
delay in the ripening of the grain.
The season was genrally wet and be-
sides was preceded by wet seasons.
There being a considerable quantity
of rust in the two previous wet sea-
sons, it finally reached the climax of
abundance in the third wet season of
1904, and especially at the critical
period. This period, when the great
est amount of damage is done, is al
ways between the date of poisoning
and the date of ripening, when tn e
head is ''tilling out.' How the rust
is carried over from one season to an
other is not yet thoroughly under
stood in the case of the black stem
rust, but it is possible that any guam
tity of rust one season will make it
more likely for damage to occur to a
crop the following year at just the
right time for doing the damage.
The seed from crop injured by rust
is in practically the same condition as
seed that is shriveled from any other
cause, such as drought or immature