No. 9. 



Observalions on B/ii,^h/, S/>nif, or Mildew. 



253 



trate — and so far as the committee could per- 

 ceive, to tlie entire sati^sfuction of a number' 

 of intelliffcnt farmers present on tlie occasion, j 

 most of whom were, at first, not a little scep- 

 tical of it^ utility. 



Your committee would say, in conclusion, | 

 that 'hey believe the Reaping Machine of 

 Mr. IIu.=!sey, to be an advantaireous substitute 

 for the present nioJeof cnttinjr praiu ou large 

 farms, or whnre two or three adjoining flirm- 

 ers of tlie ordinary amount of land in this vi- 

 •cinity unite in using it — the price of one be- 

 ing one iuindred and fifty dollars. We would 

 therefore recommend it to the attention of 

 this society, and the agricultural community 

 generally. K. Smith, 



John Fox, 

 Jacob Shallcross, 

 P. R. Freas. 



Persons wishing to communicate with Mr. 

 Hussey may do so through the Proprietors of 

 the Now Agricultural Ware-House, No. 87 

 North Second street, Philadelphia. 



For the Kariiiera' Cabinet. 



Observations ou Bllglit, Smut, or Mil- 

 devv« 



"The smut in wheat generally is, and al- 

 ways may be prevented, by a due attention 

 to liming the seed." Vancouver's Survey of 

 Devon, p. 147. Extract from my Journal, — 

 "The nine upper ridges of the gate field 

 were sown with unlimed wheat, and at har- 

 vest the produce was the best in quantity and 

 quality in the field. Mem. — These ridges 

 were ploi>jhed and sown in fine weather, 

 much rain falling immediately after." 



It is quite necessary that all who read the 

 Survey of Devon, should read also Lawrance's 

 chapter on blight in the " New Farmer's Cal 

 endar," that they may bs prevented from fall- 

 ing into the most stupid error that was ever 

 broached in the darkest ages. The rust or 

 mildew i.s invariably ascribed, by the Rev. 

 Mr. Clack, in his correspondence with the 

 Surveyor, to the influence of Barberry bushes, 

 brambles, box, and about a dozen other shrubs, 

 trees, grasses, &c., on which Fungi are pro- 

 duced, the seeds of which are scattered for 

 miles by the first spring breezes, provided 

 they are accompanied with moisture or fog: 

 he says, " the Fungi, having arrived at matu- 

 rity in the spring on a few shrubs, bushes, or 

 plants, are taken up by the next humid at- 

 mosphere, wafted into the adjoining fields, 

 and tlie nearest wheat is sure to suffer the 

 most; that under the western hedge, where 

 any plants, congenial to the growth of Fungi, 

 are, is sure to suffer the most. These seeds 

 are so minute and exceedingly light, that 

 they are liable to be wafted by every breeze, 

 jvhen accompanied by moisture or fo^s." 



IIow truly curious, that these very minute 

 seeds should be scattered only by the very 

 winds which one would think most unfavor- 

 able to their flight; fur a moist breeze would 

 immediately deposit them upon tlie earth, and 

 prevent them from flying abroad. And why 

 is it, that the wheat under tli •crstern hedge 

 is sure to sufl'er the most! Have western 

 hedges more Fungi-bearing plants in them? 

 How is it that some seasons have no blight, 

 and why is it that in those seasons when 

 blight prevails, the late sown wheat ia sure 

 to sufl^er most, (the Surveyor says this is uni- 

 formly the case,) although all the crops are 

 witiiin tlie same distance of the /alal bitsli / 

 but here follows, it would seem undesignedly, 

 the true causp, for he says, "the half of a 

 large field, adjoining a wood, was very much 

 smitten with rust ;" this was evidently occa- 

 sioned by a want of proper circulation of air, 

 and not by Barberry bushes and brambles, for 

 he tolls us that these plants grow harmlessly 

 on high and elevated situations, " but in shady 

 and damp ones their growth must be attend- 

 ed with very deleterious consequences." 



Now, from the manner in which the Sur- 

 veyor notices the correspondence of the Rev. 

 Mr. Clack, de:<!gnating the observations 

 which it contains as "valuable," one vVould 

 suppose him an advocate for the Fungi sys- 

 tem ; yet we find him, throughout the v,'hole 

 chapter on wheat, attributing the disease 

 to weakness and tenderness, arising from 

 late sowing and unhealthy situations. Here 

 follow, in corroboration, extracts from the 

 survey of the seven Districts. District No. 

 1. The mildew is but little known in this 

 district, except in small enclosures and low 

 situations, where the wheat is excluded from 

 a free circulation of air ; in the higher parts 

 of the country, where the fieldfare large and 

 the sub-division mounds naked, or covered 

 only with a few dwarf plants and creeping 

 brambles, the evil is by no means such as to 

 require notice." 



No. 2. Wheat has been frequently sown 

 aftr-r turneps, at Candlemas, but on account 

 of its being .so very liable to rust when sown 

 at that late season, barley is become its more 

 valuable substitute. 



No. 3. Smut will sometimes occur through 

 the carelessness of the farmers in not liming 

 their seed, but the rust or mildew is a dis- 

 ease seldom heard of in this district, except 

 on wheat sown after potatoes, (I presume late 

 and on an exhausted soil.) 



No. 4. The late sown wheat is found to be 

 particularly subject to rust or mildew, and 

 is much complained of as extremely liable to 

 this disease. 



No. 5. Wheat sown at Candlemas is al- 

 ways more or less injured by mildew. 



No. 6. Wherever turneps fail, the land is 



