[ So i ] 



1,373. Linseed, mustard, gram, khesdri t and beet are 

 also subject to distinctive rusts caused by fungi closely 

 related to Puccinia. Melampsora linii causes the linseed 

 rust. Another Melampsora causes rust in mustard and rape. 

 Uromyces fungi cause rust in pulses and in beet. 



1.374. The commonest Indian rust which affects judr, 

 bdjrd) shdmd and some wild grasses, is known by the name 

 of Puccinia Penniseti. The red patches on judr and other 

 leaves affected with this fungus are due to uredo pustules. 

 It should be noted however that certain races of judr are 

 naturally almost immune against this disease. These should 

 alone be selected for seed. Attempt is being made to 

 establish stocks of wheat which would be immune against 

 rust, but so far no definite results have been obtained by 

 the use of the so called rust resisting varieties in India. 



1.375. Smut (Ustilago). This is another disease of 

 cereals chiefly affecting the judr, but noticed also in paddy, 

 oats, wheat, barley, bdjrd, maize and shdmd. It is caused 

 by a minute fungus called Ustilago segetum (or Ustilago zea- 

 mays, the variety which affects the maize). It affects chiefly 

 the grain while rust affects chiefly the leaves and only 

 indirectly the grain. The loss due to smut is not, however, 

 so great in this country as that caused by rust, except in 

 the case of judr and shdmd. An ear-head here and an 

 ear-head there may be seen affected with smut almost in 

 any corn field, but wholesale destruction due to smut is not 

 known in the case of wheat, barley, or oats. In June and 

 July, are commonly seen smutted grass at Sibpur, and even 

 earlier in the season one plot of Khari sugar-cane showed a 

 profuse quantity of smut in 1901. It is a disease, 

 however, which comes in connection with seeds, and if one 

 is negligent about the harvesting of grains kept for 

 seed it is possible to have smut in an epidemic form ; 

 while on the other hand, it is a disease which can be easily 

 prevented by pickling the seed. The spores of the 



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