The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-06-01
MEAT DISEASES
FOUND n ILLINOIS

=
1asAangton, d. c.. May 1s.-Tws
t1pIe dioaA1es Of wheat hitherto un
u nNWn "a this country recently have
- discovered in Madison county
Az 1 according to the United States
81 iprAr aent OF agriculture in a state
"A aon& aasued today. The first 10 dis
ISaaos apparently Identical with thu
N kAhe.AIr" or white heads" known II
81 many foreign countries Take-all hai
unused serious losses In the whea
M lo1ds OF Australia, and has been re
u 4eeted a. . pest Of wheat, oats. bar
~. rye, rice, and certain wild grasses
4 u Europe. The second disease u
y 80 smut OF wheat turocyxtis trttici)
nhich also 10 serious disease o.
0fseat IN Australia and is known II
india and Japan Neither pest how
sver. has ever been reported to cause
osses comparable to those resuitins
Hcm the great epidemics OF ciack
kem rust IN this country
Although these diseases may cause
heavy losses to individual farmers
Ne total area likely to be affected.
i oefore eradication or control meas
ares are established, probably will not
II ~ large. the department says Tne
losses in the total area affected TINS
I rear will have no appreciAhie ehec'
upon the total production OF this
B rear's wheat crop.
The presence Of these diseases Was
discovered through a report from the
eounsy agent Of Madison county. III.
stating that wheat was being serious
o. injured hy some disease. An IN
vesfiga,fon was n1de promptly by rep
reeenta;ives of the Illinois Agricul-
turai Experiment station and the
United States department Of aEr7-
culture. The damage in the fields at
tncked wa. found 10 vary from 4
traction CT per cent 10 as much as
~ per cent. In some fields the dam
are was so great that the farmers
were plo~ing up the wheat and pre-
pairing TO plant corn.
Specimens of the diseased wheat
plants have besn examined and found
affected with the disease. showing all
the symptoms of take-aH In its early
stages, as described in Australia On
the second vi.i; to Madison county
the department representative found
the Tag smut OF wheat in the same
feids injured by take-au. Finding
these fvo Australian diseases in the
same fields strongly indicates that
they have been introduced on wheat
shipped fnto this country from Aus
erafsa These diseases are carried on
SEED grain. A thorough investigation
ID being made by the office OF cereal
investigators Of the department to
determine the source of all seed
wheat used on the infested farms A
nation wide survey Is now In progress
to fnd II either or both OF these two
diseases have teen introduced any
where else in the United StateA
Their serious effects under Ans
tra conditions wall
known There is every reason to be-
lieve that .hey WIFI find conditions In
this country favorable to their
spread Al growers of wheat and
ether small grains should be Inter
essed In helping their state expert.
nenf stations and the United States
department of agriculture to fnd
these diseases II they have been To-
troduced. and to keep them from
spreading.
There should be littie difficulty II
recognizing dag smut as ii differs
radically from the other grain smuts
Unlike the others. II attacks tn
upper leaves. particularly the top one
which Is commonly called the IA
leaf The name OF the disease come
from this characteristic. The IA
leaf always shows long. smut spor
stripes and frequently lis contorted {
twisted into a spiral. OCCASIONAL
rag smut attacks the stems as we
a. the upper leaves. In this respet
II reseYn bios the stem smut OF ~
hut differs from It in that all Of tn
culms Instead OF one out of severe
are attacked. Affected plants do nc
produce heads
The layman may have some difn
Guilty in distin gushing the take-a
Aaunn fy,v,yn orv r,thav condition IN
causes the plants to turn yellow I
patches over the field TAke-all ar
peara In round Irregular patche7
within which all OF the plants AT
destroyed. That habit gave rise I
the name Of takc-all. In the infecte
patches tho plants are frst yellow
later becoming brown and dead. Dii
eased plants. are but weakly roote
to the ground and the roots and 70,
Of the stems become rotten. Fro,
this comes another name. foot-rot.
which the disease is sometime
known. Affected plants may 0urvi,
ne early or seeding attack and pre-
duce heads, hut they never NIL GU
and are = dead white in color. tn
efvps rise to third name Of II
disease. whitehead.
The department Of agriculture hi
been for some time apprehenSfve tha
u these two diseases would be tntrx
D diced into the United Statea Ser
era1 weeks ago \ heaxing WA hel
With . view to prohibiting the in
porfation OF seed wheat from Aui
tTalia. Japan, India and PRACTICAL
he whole Of Europe. ouarantir
regulations were being prepared SON
time before the discovery Of the Oh
sasea tn Illinois.
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