144 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



female, all who sincerely believe after mature reflection, 

 that you can better your condition by emigration, and 

 you shall find a wide and fertile country ; but be sure you 

 bring every one of you, an improved pig, or sheep, or 

 cattle, or plow, or other implement, and that you cultivate 

 the soil in an improved manner, and you will improve 

 yourselves and neighbors. 



And now I hope you may improve by the advice of your 

 old friend, Solon Robinson. 



Lake C. H. la., Aug. 20, 1840. 



Rust in Wheat, &c. 



[Albany Cultivator, 7:163-64; Oct., 1840] 



[August 20, 1840] 

 Messrs. Editors of Cultivator — In my hasty note of 

 July 13th, published in the Cultivator this month, I gave 

 no particulars — I had even forgot that I had written, 

 until I read it in the paper, and also the excellent article 

 upon the subject of rust in wheat. At the same time 

 my attention was drawn to a new and singular theory 

 of the cause of rust, published in the Laporte paper, 

 which I have cut out and enclosed.* You will see by 



* Our Wheat Crop. — This year is without a precedent in regard 

 to the failure of our wheat cr&p. The committee which was 

 selected to ascertain the probable number of acres of wheat grow- 

 ing in this county, reported that there were not less than 25,000. 

 This estimate in my opinion, was not an exaggerated one. Now 

 had this come in as well as we had anticipated or hoped, we should 

 have had 500,000 bushels of wheat in our county; 100,000 bushels 

 of this would have been sufficient for our seed and consumption, 

 and the residue we might have disposed of. This at 50 cents per 

 bushel, would have brought into our county $200,000. This sum 

 would have liquidated an immense amount of debt; but owing to 

 the fly, army-worm and rust, our wheat has been measurably de- 

 stroyed; and in lieu of our having five hundred thousand bu- 

 shels, we shall not have one hundred thousand, and this will be of 

 a very inferior quality. So it will readily be perceived that we 

 have sustained a very considerable loss. It is natural for us to 

 inquire into the cause of this stupendous failure. My views on 

 this subject were published in the Laporte "Herald" last summer. 

 I shall therefore merely reiterate them. That the fly was the cause 



