1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



45$ 



chased at an enormous sacrafice of the profits and capi- 

 tal of agriculture. 



The agricultural prosperity of a country would be 

 greatly promoted, if the dividing landmarks of farms 

 could never be changed, except by sale or gift, both 

 parties being alive at the time, and consenting to the 

 transaction — when it may be supposed that the change 

 would be advantageous to the individuals concerned, 

 and consequently, to the public interest. But changes 

 forced by the operation of law, whether they be in divi- 

 ding a single farm, or consolidating the parts of the se- 

 parated shares of several, must always be injurious to 

 both private and public interests. We speak not of the 

 political, moral, or social benefits of the 'divisions of 

 farms, as ca:sid by the law of descents. Let others make 

 the most of these benefits, concerning which it is not 

 our business to treat. But as they affect the interest and 

 improvement of agriculture — as obstructions to reap- 

 ing the full amount of product which the entire surface 

 of the country would yield to labor judiciously direct- 

 ed—we regard the continual division of farms under 

 that law, together with the consequent consolidations 

 of various disjointed and unsuitable fragments to form 

 large farms, caused by sales forced by the law of en- 

 closures, ag a combination of inflictions on agriculture 

 which yield only in magnitude to tiie present exhaust- 

 ing drain, or rather Hood, of emigration to the west.] 



From the Code of Jlgricultwre of the 5th edition, 1832. 

 ON TIIE RUST* OR MILDEW. 



It is proposed to discuss this important subject 

 under the following general heads, 1. The nature 

 and appearance of the rust or mildew; 2. Its 

 causes; and, 3. An account of such remedies as 

 have been suggested, either to diminish, or to ex- 

 tirpate the disease. 



1. The nature and appearance of the rust. — This 

 disease usually appears in wheat, in the month of 

 June, after the plants have grown to their full 

 length, and before their seeds have ripened. Its 

 first appearance is on the leaves and stems of the 

 plants, in the shape of spots of a dirty white color. 

 They soon become yellow or brown, and after- 

 wards black; and they seem to rise, thicken, and 

 grow up in a roundish shape, on the stalk and 

 leaves of the plant. From the time that these 

 spots are found, the vigor and luxuriant growth of 

 the plants evidently decline, and they make no 

 further progress towards maturity. The stalk be- 

 comes so brittle, that it breaks under the flail, and 

 emits dust of a disagreeable flavor, affecting the 

 breathing of the workmen. f 



* Rust is the proper name, being a literal translation 

 of the French "La Rov/Ule," and the Latin "Rubigo." 

 The disease has at first a brownish, rusty appearance, 

 which afterwards becomes black. 



+ Sir Joseph Bank's Account of the Cause of the 

 Mildew in Corn. Communications to the Board of 

 Agriculture, vol. iv. p. 399. See also the Translation 

 of M. Desmazieres's Paper on the Diseases of Wheat, 

 annexed to "Hints on the Agricultural State of the 

 Netherlands," p. 22. The celebrated Tessier was the 

 first naturalist, who directed his particular attention to 

 this subject, in his work entitled, "Trade des Maladies 

 des Grains." 



As mildew, whenever it falls on grain cropa, 

 arrests the farther growth of the plants, and ex- 

 hausts the juices that should have matured the 

 grain, it is advisable, to reap the crop whenever 

 the disease appears, and before it extracts the na- 

 tural juices of the plants. The grain produced by 

 an infected plant is small, poor,"and of a pale co- 

 lor, but as it contains none of the rust, it is not un- 

 wholesome food. 



2. Causes of rust. — Several of the accidents 

 enumerated in a preceding section, (No. I. p. 

 53,*) may contribute to the production of rust; but 

 the principle causes are. having the land in too 

 rich a state for corn crops; a too frequent repeti- 

 tion of so exhausting a crop as wheat, more es- 

 pecially on weak soils, which renders the applica- 

 tion of much manure necessary; or when the 

 crop meets with a check in its progress to maturi- 

 ty, and in that weakened state, is exposed to hea- 

 vy rains, or variable weather. 



It has been well observed, that when crops, in- 

 tended to ripen their seed, are objects of* culture, there 

 is only wanted a degree of vigor and luxuriance 

 in the plants, sufficient for that purpose; and if the 

 fertility of the soil be raised to a much higher pitch 

 than is necessary, or consistent with that object, 

 injurious, rather than beneficial consequences may 

 be the result. f Land may be too rich for corn 

 crops, and it is better to keep it in a well-balanced 

 condition, or in a medium state of productiveness, 

 than in too fertile a state. J A superabundant quan- 

 tity of sap and juices, in vegetables growing on 

 highly cultivated lands, it is evident, must necessa- 

 rily render them more susceptible of the effects of 

 sudden and extreme changes, and consequently 

 more liable to disease. Besides, as mushrooms 

 are produced on beds of dung, great quantities of 

 manure must promote the growth of fungi, or par- 

 asitica] plants, on the crops of wheat, if they are 

 once infected . The wheat produced on the site of a 

 dunghill, is always rusted, even in the most favor- 

 able seasons; and if the whole field is a species of 

 dunghill, how can it escape?§ The whole fungus 

 tribe are seldom seen to grow, but from superflu- 

 ous vegetable matter, as rotten wood, thatch, de- 

 decayed hay, or some light rich substance, aided 

 by a certain degree of heat and moisture; and 

 there is no substance more analogous to such a 



* Pliny (Lib. 18. c. 28,) attributes the rust to frost, 

 and in this way it may be accounted for. If frosty 

 nights are succeeded by hot gleams, disease is inevita- 

 ble, unless the frost could be shaken off, before the in- 

 fluence of the sun is felt. It is a singular fact, that 

 plants of wheat under trees escape rust, though the 

 neighboring crop is infested with it. 



f Hence the great advantage of having previously a 

 green crop, to absorb the superabundant and injurious 

 richness of the dung. 



X Communication from Dr. Conventiy. It is stated 

 in a letter from Mr. Wm. Scott of Horncastle, (Farm- 

 er's Journal, Nov. 20. 1815,) "That wet falling on 

 soils full of manure, causeth too luxuriant a growth of 

 corn, from whence springs mildew." This doctrine is 

 sanctioned by the authority of Parmentier, who as- 

 cribes the rust, " a. l'abondance d'un sue nourricier, re- 

 sultant d'une vegetation trop vigoureux, plutot qu'aux 

 brouillards, qui n'y ont aucun part directe. Traitesur 

 la Culture de Grains." — Vol. i. p. 242. 



§ Communication from John Middleton, Esq. 



