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THE ILLIlSrOIS F^R]S£ER. 



13B 



Burr's Seedling and AVilley. The quan- 

 tity of ground is a little over three- 

 fourteenths of an acre, or in other words, 

 it is seventy- one feet one way, by eighty- 

 three feet the other. My record of 

 gathing is as 'folloAvs: May 28th, 2 

 quarts; 29th, 2; 30th, 2; June Ist, 29; 

 2d, 6; 4th, 75; 5th, 6; 6th, 62; 7th, 4; 

 8th, 74; 9th, 14; 10th, 6; 11th, 110; 

 12th, 44; 13th, 62; 14th, 52; I5th, 66; 

 16th, 2; 17th, 69; 18th, 42; 19th, 2; 

 20th, 21; 21st, 6; 22d, 2; 23d, 2— 

 making in all, 763 quarts. 



Now for their market value. Had I 

 chosen, I could have contracted the pro- 

 ducts of the bed at ten cents a quart, 

 which would give $76 30 for^three-four- 

 teenths of an acre, or about $356 to an 

 acre. I hope you will receive records 

 from others more fortunate in having 

 beds that have been cultivated regularly, 

 as this does not give a fair average of 

 product obtainable from strawberry plan- 

 tations. — F. 11. E. — Ohio Farmer. 



Ninety-nine bushels to the acre. This 

 does very well and probably near the 

 right estimate; but as a general thing, 

 we should think this too large. When 

 we consider that t^ree hundred bushels 

 of potatoes, or five hundred bushel of 

 turnips are a very^large yield for an acre, 

 and take into consideration the space 

 thoy occupy, as compared with the 

 strawberry, we must confess that.we can- 

 not believe all that is said'of the straw- 

 berry. Now if among our many reader^ 

 we have any that have by actual m 

 surement, ascertained how many berries 

 he has taken from one acre, let 

 speak. We want no estimates from one 

 square rod, but from a full acre. We 

 intend to pursue this subject until we 

 can learn something more definite than 

 can be obtained by mere estimates. 



4t 



Rust and Smnt in Wheat. 



M. L. DuNLAP — Bear Sir: It is well 

 known that the wheat crop of Illinois, 

 and of some other StateSj have at times 

 been much injured and cut ofi" by the 

 Husi. For the benefit of our farmers, 

 and to secure the protection of so im- 

 portant a crop, I send you a few lines 

 on the subject. 



The Parasite Fungi, often individu- 

 ally invisible, taking root on, or in the 

 plants, and feeding upon their juices. — 

 The fungi are leafless plants of very 

 simple structure, growing from little 

 creeping fibres called mycelium or 

 spawn. They are of various sizes and 

 forms, and are propagated by extremely 

 minute seeds called spores, or seeds — 

 either naked or in cases, called sporidiu 

 or gods. The mushroom, toad-stool,and 



puff'-ball, may serve as examples of the 

 larger forms, and the fine dust with 

 which the latter is filled, may give an 

 idea of the minuteness and difFusibility 

 of the seeds of such plants. The moulds 

 that grow on stale bread, cheese, and 

 other decaying matters, are examples of 

 the smaller kinds, and when we consider 

 that some of these produce seeds even 

 smaller than those of the pufi'-ball, we 

 need not wonder that they appear so 

 readily whenever the conditions are af- 

 forded for their growth. Such are rust, 

 mildew, smut, etc., etc' Some of these 

 attack the straw, leaves, chaff; others the 

 flower and the grain ; but all are alike 

 minute fungi, spreading their spawn 

 through the tissues of the plants, and 

 producing quantities of minute spores 

 to continue the plague. 



Rv^t or Mildew, is a redish, rusty or 

 dark colored substance which appears in 

 the stem and leaves of wheat, speedily 

 arresting its growth, and bringing on 

 premature decay. When examined by 

 the microscope, it is found to consist of 

 innumerable minute fungi, that have 

 burst through the skin and are growing 

 in dense patches and absorbing the sap 

 of the plant, >. . 



How do these species of fungi enter 

 the plant? It may be in two ways : by 

 the minute pores or mouths of the leaves 

 which serve for the respiration of the 

 plant, or by the roots from the soil. — 

 Possibly different species may enter by 

 these different paths. We cannot pre- 

 vent the entrance of these seeds. At- 

 tacks of "rust are favored, 1st, by damp 

 and cold weather following warm weath- 

 er, at the time when the straw is still 

 soft and juicy — hence late wheat is very 

 liable to rust. 2nd, a deficiency of the 



plant. These unhealthy conditions may 

 proceed from poverty and want of alka- 

 lies in the soil, from the presence of too 

 much crude vegetable matter, as sod or 

 raw manure, or a wet and undrained 

 land. 3d, it is probable that when the 

 grain of rusty wheat is sown, or sound 

 wheat in land where wheat rusted in pre- 

 vious years, the seeds of the fungus ex- 

 ist in the soil. The best preventives 

 are, 1st. Healthy seed. 2nd. Early 

 sowing. 3d. Draining. 4th. Do not 

 sow wheat in pastures or bogs. 5th. 

 Let the soil be rich, but not filled with 

 crude vegetable matter. 



SmuX is a parasitic fungus growing 

 within the grain, converting its sub- 

 stance into a dark colored fetid mass of 

 spores or mould balls, which under the 

 microscope look like rough berries, and 

 are filled with the minute dust-like seeds 

 of the smut. Its mode of propagation 

 is pretty well understood and guarded 

 against. 



When smutty grain is threshed, the 



infected seeds are broken, and the smut 

 being of an adhesive nature; attaches 

 itself to the sound grains, and these 

 when planted, give a smutty crop. — 

 Good wheat put into bags or boxes, or 

 that threshed on the floor where smutty 

 wheat has been, will be smutty. Seed 

 wheat should always be well washed be- 

 fore sowing. The adhesive nature of 

 the smut will be converted into soap, by 

 alkali, and so washes off. Ley, there- 

 fore, should be used in washing the seed. 

 Lime is not so good, for by too much 

 slaking often loses its power. 



It is a well ascertained fact, ^that 

 wheat that is sown in drills, is much less 

 liable to rust or mildew than that sown 

 broadcast. The reason for this is ap- 

 parent, as the drilled wheat, standing in 

 distinct rows, offers a much better chance 

 for a more free circulation of the sun 

 and air among the grain, and thus the 

 straw sooner dries and becomes hard af- 

 ter wet weather, H. D. W. 

 Quincy, July, 1860. / 

 Eemabes. — We cannot at all times 

 guard against rust, but we know that in 

 most cases the early wheat is the least 

 liable to its ravages; hence the "May," 

 or "Alabama" is so popular among the 

 varieties of winter wheat- The Canada 

 club holds the same relation to varieties 

 of spring wheat. This early wheat al- 

 so escapes another enemy — the chinch 

 bug. Rust sometimes occur during sev- 

 eral days of clear hot weather, when 

 scarcely a cloud is seen to float through 

 the heated air, which is in a condition 

 opposite to that of damp sultry weather. 

 ^Chus we have the evidence that appar- 



outer silicious coat on the stalk, or an^^ently opposite causes produce the same 

 unnaturally soft and watery state of the result. Now it is well known that wheat 



sown early is not always early wheat, 

 for the simple reason that the soil is too 

 dry to allow it to germinate; but we 

 think this can mainly be guarded against. 

 If the land is cloddv, we would first 

 pass the roller over it to crush them ; 

 next harrow it smooth and put it in fine 

 tilth, when it is ready to be seeded, and 

 this should be done with a drill to ensure 

 the deposite of the seed at such depth 

 that the moisture would germinate it 

 without waiting for a rain, which, as all 

 know, at seeding time is a very uncer- 

 tain commodity. When wheat is sown 

 broadcast and harrowed in, it frequent- 

 ly lays in the dry soil for weeks before 

 it can sprout, and many times not until 

 the setting in of winter, when the plant 



is too weak to stand even moderate free- 

 zing, of course all such wheat is at the 

 mercy of the drying winds of March 



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