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Agriculture (Another disorder which affects)

Another disorder which affects wheat and is by several people denominated the real rust, is brought on by excessive heat, which occasions the plants to suffer from a privation of nourishment, and become sickly and feeble. In this atrophic state a kind of dust gathers on the stalks and leaves, which increases with the disease, till the plant is in a great measure worn out and exhausted. The only remedy in this case, and it is one that cannot easily be administered by the hand of man, is a plentiful supply of moisture, by which, if it is received before consumption is too far advanced, the crop is benefited in a degree proportional to the extent of nourishment received, and the stage at which the disease has arrived.

Impropriety of Sowing Mildewed Wheat.

Some people have recommended the sowing of blighted and mildewed wheat, because it will vegetate; though certainly the recommendation, if carried into practice, would be attended with imminent danger to those who attempted it.

That light or defective wheat will vegetate and produce a plant we are not disposed to contradict, but that it will vegetate as briskly, or put out a stem of equal strength, and capable of withstanding the severe winter blasts as those produced from sound seed we must be excused for not believing. Let it only be considered that a plant of young wheat, unless when very early sown, lives three or four months, in a great measure, upon the nourishment which it derives from the parent seed; and that such nourishment can, in no view of the subject, be so great when the parent is lean and emaciated as when sound, healthy and vigorous. Let it also be remembered that a plant produced from the best and weightiest seed must, in every case, under a parity of other circumstances, have a stronger constitution at the outset, which necessarily qualifies it to push on with greater energy when the season of growth arrives. Indeed, the economy of nature would be overturned should any other result follow. A breeder of cattle or sheep would not act more foolishly, who trusted that a deformed diminutive bull or ram would produce him good stock, than the corn farmer does who uses unsound or imperfect seed.

To remove the Mildew on Wheat.

A solution of common salt in water, in the proportion of a pound to a gallon, is an excellent remedy for the mildew on grain. After sprinkling three or four days, the mildew will disappear, leaving only a discoloration on the straw where it was destroyed. The best and most expeditious way of applying the mixture is with a flat brush, such as is used by whitewashers. The operator having a pail of the mixture in one hand, with the other he dips the brush into it, and makes his regular casts as when sowing grain broadcast; in this way he will readily get over ten acres in the day, and with an assistant a great deal more.

About two hogsheads of the mixture will suffice for an acre. Wherever the mixture touches the mildew immediately dies.

To prevent Mildew in Wheat.

Dissolve three ounces and two drachms of sulphate of copper, copperas, or blue vitriol, in three gallons and three quarts, wine measure, of cold water, for every three bushels of grain that is to be prepared. Into another vessel capable of containing from fifty-three to seventy-nine wine gallons, throw from three to four bushels of wheat, into which the prepared liquid is poured, until it rises five or six inches above the grain.

Stir it thoroughly; and carefully remove all that swims on the surface. After it has remained half an hour in the preparation, throw the wheat into a basket that will allow the water to escape, but not the grain. It ought then to be immediately washed in rain, or pure water, which will prevent any risk of its injuring the germ, and afterwards the seed ought to be dried before it is sown. It may be preserved in this shape for months. Another method, which has been tried in Russia, is to expose the seed for one or two weeks to a dry heat of about 80° or 90°.

To prevent the Smut in Wheat.

Liming the seed by immersion is recommended by a French writer, as the only preventive warranted by science and sanctioned by experience, and the following is given as the method in which the process is best performed:

To destroy the germs of the blight in four and a half bushels or 256 pounds of grain, about six or seven gallons of water must be used, as grain may be more or less dry, and from thirty-five to forty-two ounces avoirdupois of quick-lime, according as it may be more or less caustic, and according as the seed may have more or less of the blight. Boil part of the water, black the lime with it, and then add the rest. When joined the heat of the water should be such that the hand can with difficulty bear it. Pour the lime water upon the corn placed in a tub, stirring it incessantly, first with a stick, and afterwards with a shovel. The liquid should, at first, cover the wheat, three or four fingers' breadth; it will soon be absorbed by the grain. In this state let it remain covered over for twenty-four hours, but turn it over five or six times during the day.

Such parts of the liquor as will drain off may then be separated, when the corn, after standing a few hours, in order that it may run freely out of the hand, may be sown. If not intended to be used immediately, the limed wheat should be put in a heap, and moved once or twice a day till dry.

Experience has proved that limed grain germinates sooner than unlimed; and, as it carries with it moisture sufficient to develop the embryo, the seed will not suffer for want of rain; insects will not attack it, the acrid taste of the lime being offensive to them; and, as every grain germinates, a less quantity is requisite. In fact, the grain being swelled, the sower filling his hand as usual, will, when he has sown sixty-five handsful of limed corn, have in reality only used fifty-two.

As blighted grains preserve for a long time the power of germinating, the careful farmer, whose grain has been touched, should carefully sweep out the crevices in the walls and cracks in the floors of his barn, and take great pains to clean them thoroughly. Dry heat, as above spoken of, may be worth trying.

Another Method.

A tub is used that has a hole at bottom for a spigot and faucet, fixed in a wisp of straw, to prevent any small pieces of lime passing (as in brewing). To seventy gallons of water add a bushel of unslaked lime, stir it well till the whole is mixed, let it stand thirty hours, run it off into another tub (as practised in beer); add forty-two pounds of salt, which, with stirring, will soon dissolve; this is a proper pickle for brining and liming seed wheat without any obstacle, and greatly facilitates the drilling. Steep the wheat in a broad-bottomed basket, twenty-four inches in diameter and twenty inches