470 



FIRING. 



after the plants are transplanted, their growth and devel- 

 opment is greatly hindered. When, however, the plants 

 are nearly grown, a severe drought affects the plants but 

 little, the large palm-like leaves forming a kind of canopy 

 and keeping the earth moist and cool. During a wet season, 

 and sometimes when the plants have been set in damp soil, 

 they are affected by " brown rust," or, as it is called at the 

 South, 



FIRING. 



It is supposed to be caused by very damp weather, and is 

 much dreaded by all growers of the weed, as it is sometimes 

 quite common, and on low soil affects the crop to a consider- 

 able extent. It spots the leaf with hard brown spots that 

 often fall out, producing holes fatal to the value of the crop. 



The lower leaves on the 

 plant are more likely to 

 be injured than those 

 higher on the stalk. 

 The spots vary in size ; 

 sometimes they are as 

 large as a three cent 



piece, 



but more fre- 



quently about the size 

 of a small pearl button. 

 At the South, rust or 

 " firing " is much more 

 common than in the 

 Connecticut valley, and 

 often whole fields are 

 badly affected by the 

 malady. Some seasons 

 hardly any rust can 



be discovered on the leaves, and if any spots are found 



they are fixed and do not spread. 



Small plants are more liable to be injured than large ones, 



and not unfrequently nearly every leaf is covered with the 



spots. Many theories have been advanced in regard to the 



FIRING. 



