New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-03
WHAT RUST HAS
DONE TO WHEAT
A Description of the Blight
and the Consequences
Of This Visit.
Minneapolis, Aug. /.


The first genuine black rust vista
ton for twelve years has caused all
this worry and excitement. Now that
it is all over except the counting Of the
bushels there is absolute certainty
about general results The Northwest
will get wheat crop, but 10 will be
small II started out with good prom
Use. No one can put the damage INTO
bushels or percentage figures A. this
time with any certainty OF being corr
rect But the crop has been hard bit
and probably has been cut, possibly By
80 to 40 per cent.
The winter wheat farmer, VINO Ives
in the corn country who plants as
winter wheat in the fall and gets I
cut and stacked early the next year, Did
well. The spring wheat farmer. Who
plants his seed in the spring. fnds y
standing in position 70 get hard
knock when corn weather which
means hot weather. comes along in
July. This is a risk he always takes.
us year tANlfiAT NtaN No@str sums
OF the spring wheat in the delicate
stage and blighted IT,.
Then along came rust.
Never season comes and goes with
out it's rust scare. Every year 10 shows
up in some Of the fields. Eleven times
70 one time the crop natures without
sufficient damage having been done 20
lower the total yield materially. IN
1904 there was bad rust damage sea-
son. The crop was cut away down.
Not until this year has IT repeated.
The Worst Is Known.
The worst now is known. The North
west has accepted the fact that a Big
crop prospect has been lowered % 4
rromise below the ten-year average.
This will not have the effect that might
be imagined. OF course It is a bad de-
velopment. But the Northwest u so
rich. after several successive seasons
of good crops and good prices. fol-
lowed by the record crop and the rec
ord prices last year, that beyond the
fact that extensions Of credit have been
made in some localities, ~ will not AZ
feet business materially. II viii make
d difference in the earnings Of the rail-
roads. That, perhaps, Is the most M
portant effect
# what has Just happened had hap
pened twenty years ago, or even ten
years ago. IL would have meant hard
times for a season for many people Nv
ing out here II cannot lave that effect
now.
Rust when You See II.
BLACK rust when 10 is getting in ITS
work. looks on the wheat stalk much
a. If one should take a straw out Of
his lemonade glass. wet ~ and then
shake coarse pepper on a. One goes
into n field of wheat that looks good
on TOP. The heads perhaps have form
ed. but are not yet filled. They fll
through two distinct stages. In he
first. they are said 70 be in the milk
ana are very soft. In the second stage
they are "in the dough" and have flled,
but have not yet hardened.
II one finds the little black pepper
spots on the stalk. it is then question
Of race between the wheat and the
rust. Given cool. favorable weather,
lust the right kind of growing weather,
and the heads will continue 70 III, and
fields Of wheat with black rust All over
the stems have matured in past sea-
sons. and have yielded we'll.
But, if "muggy" weather comes. ~ -
rust weather. and the stalks viii soon
be punctured by the parasites. nat
means nothing in the heads.
Let the temperature be high. say 90
in South Dakota Let e shower come
on. rust being present in some fields.
Then IL the sun comes out hot and the
fields steam. rust will spread With
great rapidity. 4 farmer unfamiliar
,vith he rust sometimes will welcome
a shower. and when he sees the not
sun out later and vapor hanging over
the fields. will not know that the rust
is going through his wheat. or course
if there IS rust in his vicinity. and ne
is alarmed about II. he will realize that
his field is passing a critical period.
Obliging the Corn Crop.
Now that il is all over. the business
noople here are taking IL very calmly.
New York financial interests whose me
yestments extend this way may be as
s,Ired the effect will not be severe
Wheat is the predominant crop. m ne
rublic mind Wheat Is the crop by
which the production OF the west $
gagged. Yet corn - the biggest crop
in the world. and the kind OF weather
that has adversely affected the wheat
is lust the kind Of weather 20 MAKE we
corn grow. Weather that Will COOK the
berries on a bush, bake peas IN tns
pod. dry up ponds and streams snu
make peole 90 about WIN nan
clothes of is Just the kind OF "esther
70 make a corn stalk leap Guy o, tne
ground and grow like beautiful Dig
sunflower ,,,,,c NEVILLE