Evening star., 1923-07-29
Fight on Black Rust
No,O Nearing Success

to error. but seldom has the error
reached the proportions TO which the
love for bush by immigrants in past
years has brought the grain growers
of the United States
The barberry bush, in common use
in Europe for hedge and other deco
rative purposes, was brought over by
Europeans to mark out their boun-
dary lines and beautify the surround
ings of their homes here. No objec-
tion was made, and, on the other
hand. the bush found favor among
the people of this country and its use
spread. 1t has kept on spreading
until it has become prevalent all
through the grain belt of the middle
west. and with it came the greatest foe
OF the grain growers. the black rust
which in the past six years has dom
an average annual damage Of NOR
than s45.000,00G.
United States Banned Bushes.
So great became the menace of thu
Agriculture took over the problem
and after short study banned al
barberry bushes in thirteen states
Colorado. Illinois. Indiana, Iowa
Michigan. Minnesota, Montana, Ne
braska. North Dakota, South Dakots
Ohio, Wisconsin and Wyoming. No
only are the bushes banned but the
department is seeing to It that they
are eliminated.
More than half of the farms in this
xria ed loo
every bush discovered was dug up
and destroyed. Not only was IL re
moved, but the farm was listed and
the exact location Of the bush was
marked. This year the same spots
were visited again and any new
growth that might have sprung up
from portions of root not removed
last year was killed. In addition.
by the end of the season, which comes
the first Of October. every remaining
hundred men are out hunting the bar
berry and spelling its doom.
Weather Aids Fight
The weather man has been kind
this year and has aided in the fight
for the black rust to grow its best
wants lots of rain followed by very
hot days and nights. warm and
muggy, when the dampness rises like
mist and lies around the leaves and
stems of the plants on which the rust
has found a footing.
The war on the rust has been hard
fought and beset with many obstacles
The wind and the birds have been its
the efforts of the grain growers TO
provide the daily loaf of bread we
buy. And even now, with success in
sight as far as the northern part Of
the grain belt is concerned, there
looms the possibility of still greater
In OIL
The rust of the north has a rather
long cycle which must be travelled
1t grows on the barberry first off
and then the spores are carried by
the wind to the growing grains and
grasses They lodge in the breathing
pores of the grain. and then spread
like a plant all through the stalk
The growth is parasitic in nature and
saps the strength of the grain, pre-
venting the development of tn.
precious kernels of wheat, rye. oats
and barley.
Survive Intense Cold.
Then. as cold weather comes on. tn,
summer spores are killed Off. but il
their place there remain the winter
type which are able to survive in
tense cold. But when springtime
comes they cannot grow unless the
berry bush. With the barberry prev
alent, this journey back to commence
a new cycle Is easily accomplished
That is the whyfor OF the elimination
of the barberry.
The spread Of the barberry by root
extension is slow and its control
would be easy were 1t not for the
birds. The bush bears yellow
flower in the spring which turns I'm
the fall into a red berry. much rel
ished by birds. The birds fill their
crops with the berries. and. returning
to their nests and immediate envir6ns,
regurgitate and spit out the seeds
The seeds germinate and a new bush
is started -
The ability of the growth to sur.
vive digging up IL any root is left
has led to an attempt TO poison the
plants. and a certain degree OF sue
cess has been accomplished by this
method. The eradication Of the bush
seems sure but that leaves the prob
lem off new fight to be considered.
mains to be seen when the barberrv'
has been removed. ~
Harder Fight In South, 80
In the southern sections the cycle
of the life. Of the rust is much shorter,
In fact. 1t is not a cycle but pro-
gression. The winter temperatures
are not sufficient to kill the SUMMER
is not needed " prolong the rust. the
spores simply travelling from plant
to plant OF the grain and grass The
question is how far the spores can
travel on the wind.
1t is thought and hoped that twentS
miles is about the limit, which would.
of course. make the infection of fields
farther north of little consequence
How far this hope will be carried out
however, must be left to the next
few years. Experiments with an air
plane have shown that the spore may
be found 10000 feet in the air. and
strong wind there might carry them
great distances.
Seek Sturdier Grains.
Experiments being carried on un-
der direction of DIR. II. b. Humphrey.
plant pathologist in charge of the
bureau of cereal investigations, seek
another means of eliminating the
trouble. BY breeding and c-oGs-
breeding of various types Of wheat
and other grains strains that are
resistant to the rust are sought and
certain amount of success has been
obtained. Some have been developed
that have eliminated rust. but with
the elimination have come undesir-
able qualities for milling purposes
and the study still must be carried on
Some idea of the total of the dam
age may be conveyed by the follow
ing figures covering the losses in the
past six years from the rust: Wheat
143.554,44o bushels; oats. 5000. 900
l. I -.