On tfte Rust or Mildew. 65 



general, are the most apt to be rusted ; and the reason is, that the 

 roots in them, are the largest and the longest, and generally, in search 

 of moisture, run the deepest into the soil. The stems are thence lux- 

 uriant, large and porous. The roots being long and straggling, often 

 get into a noxious stratum below, or into one not productive of nou- 

 rishment. When that is the case, the plant, formerly luxuriant, meets 

 with a sudden check, (for it is only from the extreme points of the 

 roots, that the plant derives its nourishment by absorption) ; and this 

 sudden check predisposes it to disease. If then the month of July 

 is accompanied by warmth and moisture, or even the beginning of 

 August, the plants of wheat, in their weakened state, will be attack- 

 ed by those fungi, to the propagation of which, that description of 

 weather is so favourable, more especially in places where a free circu- 

 lation of air is wanting. 



In proof of these doctrines, it may be observed, that in loose and 

 open soils, treading the land thoroughly, after it is sown, is an effec- 

 tual preventive of the mildew ; the roots being thus hindered from 

 becoming loose and straggling, or getting into poor or noxious strata, 

 whence no nourishment can be derived. 



3. Remedies against Rust. Among the remedies likely to dimi- 

 nish the effects of this fatal malady, the following have been particu- 

 larly recommended: 1. Cultivating hardy sorts of wheat; 2. Early 

 sowing ; 3. Raising early varieties ; 4. Thick sowing ; 5. Changes of 

 seed ; 6. Consolidating the soil after sowing ; 7. Using saline ma- 

 nures ; 8. Improving the course of crops ; 9. Extirpating all plants 

 that are receptacles of rust ; and, 10. Protecting the ears and roots of 

 wheat, by rye, tares, and other crops. 



1. In a plant of which there are such a number of varieties, as in 

 the case of wheat, it is evident, that there may be some, distinguished 

 by peculiar properties, and consequently less liable to disease *. It 

 is said that the red wheats f are hardier than the white, and that 

 the thin, or smooth-chaffed, are less apt to be rusted, than the thick- 

 chaffed sorts. A variety of red wheat, called creeping-wheat, is much 

 cultivated, on that account, in Yorkshire, and on the borders of Eng- 

 land and Scotland J ; and in Worcestershire, the farmers are partial, 

 on account of its hardiness, to a species of cone wheat, originally 

 from Courland, which is not so apt to be injured in bad weather. 



2. Sowing wheat early, is a preventive that has been long recom- 

 raended, with a view of having the ear filled, before the season is like- 

 ly to be injurious . In confirmation of that doctrine, it is remarked, 



* Spring wheat is said to be not so liable to be rusted as other wheat, in Dor- 

 setshire, (Report, p. 213), and in South Wales, (Report, vol. i. p. 399), but 

 equally so in Derbyshire, (Report, vol. ii. p. 119), and in other districts. 



f Near Exeter, they have lately got a red foreign wheat, which, it is said, is 

 not liable to be rusted. 



f General Report of Scotland, vol. i. p. 447. 



Worlidge's Systema Agriculture, vol. i. folio, p. 2 1 0. Printed an. 1 G8 1 . On 

 the advantage of early sowing, sec Oxfordshire Report, p. 151,152; North- 

 amptonshire Report, p. 86 ; Berks Report, p. 200 ; Dorset Report, p. 209, 

 210, &c. By early sowing, the autumnal rains may be avoided, which put the 



