CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 93 



particular the air was sultry, the heat intense, and the showers 

 frequent, with intervals of sunshine; and the earth was steam- 

 ing most profusely. 



"An intelligent farmer in my employ, accustomed to the 

 cultivation of this grain in one of the best wheat districts of 

 New York, remarked to me that this was very severe weather 

 for my wheat, and that he feared I should lose it. The rust in 

 fact appeared for the first time the next day, and rapidly ex- 

 tended itself over the whole field, presenting no difference 

 either in the manured, and in the parts not manured, and of 

 course less luxuriant. 



"Had my wheat been sown earlier, so as to have been far- 

 ther advanced, it would probably have escaped; had it been 

 sown later, so as not to have been so far advanced as it was, 

 perhaps I should have been as fortunate. But the occurrence 

 of such a peculiar state of the atmosphere being wholly acci- 

 dental, at least as far as we are concerned, it is impossible to 

 make any certain calculations about it." 



The remedies against rust, mildew or blight, as laid down 

 in the "Code of Agriculture," by Sir JOHN SINCLAIR, are as 

 follows: Cultivating hardy sorts of wheat early sowing 

 raising of early varieties thick sowing frequent changes of 

 seed consolidating the soil using saline manures improv- 

 ing the course of crops extirpating all plants that are recep- 

 tacles of rust, and by protecting the ears and roots of wheat by 

 rye and other crops. 



In the present state of botanical knowledge, as regards the 

 diseases of grain, it is out of our power to offer any remedy for 

 injuries arising from such various and uncertain causes. But 

 as they seem to be chiefly occasioned by a close state of the 

 atmosphere, they may, probably, be partially guarded against, 

 by preserving as free a circulation as possible of air among the 

 plants, by keeping the fences as low as the security of the crop 

 will permit; and especially by drilling the grain instead of 

 sowing it broadcast.* 



Smut is a disease almost peculiar to the grain of wheat. It 

 differs from rust and mildew in this, that the means of preven- 

 tion are generally within our power. The remedies are nu- 

 merous, and such as are calculated to destroy any noxious 

 quality adhering to the seed grain, be it the seeds of minute 

 parasitic plants or of animalculae. 



An European farmer,f after repeated experiments, gives it as 

 his opinion that the best preventive is to steep the seed in 

 strong lime water, which, it is presumed, destroys the vitality 



* British Husbandry, vol. ii. p. 159. t F. BANER. 



