DISEASES 



105 



Rye straw is used extensively as packing material and 

 for the manufacture of straw articles. It is also used in 

 the manufacture of paper and as stuffing for horse collars. 

 When it is put on the market for these purposes it is either 

 hand threshed or run into special machinery which threshes 

 out the heads and leaves the straw inanuncrushed condition. 



Fig- 55- Excellence of straw in an average rye field. 



Diseases. The disease most prevalent in rye is ergot. 

 This disease makes its appearance on several of our 

 grasses, but is most common on rye. When rye is thus 

 affected jt should not be fed to stock. Ergot is a poison 

 to animals and may cause serious sickness or death. It 

 appears on the spike as one or several enlarged black or 

 purple kernels and grows rapidly, reaching a length of a 

 half inch and over. Like other spore diseases after reach- 

 ing a certain stage of growth, fine dust-like material is 

 given off which infects the remainder of the crop. 



Change of seed and rotation of crops is recommended 



