WHEAT 83 



Scab in wheat. Scab is the least common of the three 

 diseases mentioned, yet it sometimes causes much loss in 

 certain localities. It attacks the glumes, or chaff, which 

 surround the kernels of wheat in the head. The entire head 

 is seldom destroyed, only a few of the glumes being af- 

 fected. Scab results in a shrinkage of the kernels, and 

 hence a reduction in the yield and an injury of the quality 

 of the wheat. No cure has yet been discovered for wheat 

 scab. A second crop of wheat should not follow wheat 

 that has been affected with scab. If this is necessary, how- 

 ever, the stubble of the first crop should be burned to de- 

 stroy as much of the scab as possible. 



Rust in wheat. Rust is one of the most serious en- 

 emies of the wheat crop. It is nearly always present in 

 some degree, and has at times almost wholly destroyed the 

 crop over considerable areas. There are two kinds of 

 rust, one attacking the leaves and the other the stems of 

 the plants. The stem rust is much more destructive than 

 the leaf rust. 



Rust may in some cases live over winter on the old 

 plants, and be ready to attack the new crop if wheat is 

 again planted on the field. Wheat rust also lives on other 

 plants, especially the barberry, and is spread from them by 

 birds or insects to wheat-fields. Laws have been passed in 

 some states requiring the destruction of barberry hedges 

 because of their part in spreading rust. 



Moist seasons are more favorable to the ravages of 

 rust than dry. Rust results in weakening the stem of the 

 wheat plant, and reducing the size and quality of the grain. 

 In some cases the heads even fail to fill, and the crop is a 

 total failure. There is no known cure for rust, though cer- 

 tain varieties of wheat are better able to resist it than 



