CEREALS 327 



of crop plants, such as wild meadow oat grass, orchard 

 grass, wild wheat grasses, quack grass, wild rye grasses, 

 etc., may propagate the fungus and increase infection. If 

 such grasses are rusted, they should be burned, plowed 

 under, or avoided in the location of the grain fields. 



While sprays of various kinds may be effective in checking 

 the spread of rusts, the use of such means of prevention is 

 impracticable, owing to the nature of growth of the crop, 

 and the difficulty and expense of the application. Moreover 

 the question of use of such treatment is compUcated by the 

 different kinds of rusts to be met and by their different 

 behavior in different seasons. 



Anthracnose of Cereals 



Anthracnose (Colletotrichum cereale Manns ^ . — Upon 

 many cereals and forage crops, as rye, wheat, oats, orchard 

 grass, timothy, red top, and blue grass, occurs a blight, 

 resulting in shriveling of the grain and spotting of the 

 leaves and stalks. The fungus is marked by small, black 

 acervuU, located upon the spikes, stems, and sheaths, and 

 the chief attack is made as the plants approach maturity. 



For more complete discussion, see rye. 



Special Diseases of Cereals 

 BARLEY 



Loose smut (Ustilago nuda (Jens.) Kell. & Sw.). — 

 This disease, previously thought insignificant, seems to 

 be increasing in importance. It now often causes losses in 

 Wisconsin and Minnesota of from 5 to 10 per cent of the crop, 



' Sci. n. s. 29, 915, June 4, 1909. 



