THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Till': HAIIHKKUV AM) TIM': WIIKAT MUST 
lUj A'. Chile 
W ITHIN lh(“ j)asl IVw iiioiitlis, a vigorous canipai^n 
has l)(‘(Mi \\a^>:(Ml a^^ainsl lh(‘ (‘omnioii haiix'i'ty 
{lierheris viilf/dris) on lln^ ground that il har¬ 
bors a vary (h'slrnclivi* rust of (*(‘r(‘al 'Ciops. A lew 
Slate's, iinh'od, have' passe'el laws lor its e'xle'rininalion 
within Ihe'ir heennelarie's. anel a large' ninnhe'r eef re'C'e'iil 
graeliiate^s I’reem enii' agricnltnial ceelh'ge's have' loiinel an 
eenlle't for the'ir pati'iotisin, an e)p[)e)rt,unity le) make' a re'pn- 
latieen, anel ineeio eer h'ss re'inime'ralion in e'liele'aveeiing tee 
e'xle'rminale! the' hailee'riy, leeeel anel leranch. 
The' (*e)mme)n hailte'rry is ne)t, an e?sj)e'(*ially he'antifnl 
shrill) anel can we'll he s[)are'el fre)m our future' |)lanlings, 
hut there are a large nuinhe'r e)f jearks, ce'inelerie'S anel 
private grounels wheese beauty ele'penels le) se)ine' e^xtent 
upon |)lantings of this shrub made ])efe)i“e war was eh'- 
elare'el uj)on it, anel it l)ehe)oves us to le)ok carefully inie) 
tbe charges against it before getting hysterical e)ver the' 
matter and })ulling them up. If such plantings llireaten 
the he'alth of the wheat, they shouhl, of course, be ex- 
te'rminated fe)rtliwith; but if they do neit, a reaseenaleh' 
lime should be given the owmers in wbic'h te) replace the' 
shrubs w ith seemetliing else. In any case, since the shrub 
is a ])ossible source of danger, it sheeuld ultimately l)e re- 
moveel. or at least reeluced somewhat in numbers. 
The wheat rust, which the barberiy is accused of har¬ 
boring, belongs te) a group of fungi usually known as 
Hasidiomycetes, or se)metimes as Aecidiomycetes. There 
are possibly ten thousand rusts, all parasitic upon various 
species of given plants and in many cases confined te) a 
single species of host plant. One of the most imj)ortant 
and Interesting facts about them is that a large number 
reejuire more than one species of plant for the completie)n 
e)f their life cycle. Thus the rust of apple passes part of 
its existence on the cedar, the corn rust begins life on the 
oxalis and tbe wheat rust has one of its stages on tin' 
barberiy. Some of these rusts have no less than five dif¬ 
ferent kinds of spores, each in its proper place in the life 
cycle and each carrying the rust to new' areas of infection, 
all of wdiich shows how' powerful for hai'in some of the 
s[)ecies are. 
The botanist know^s the wheat rust as Pucrima gram- 
inis. Under this name, however, are included at least 
half a dozen forms, some of which affect wheat, wdiile 
others injure rye, oats, barley and various wild grasses. 
Il is likely that all may live on the barberry, but unless 
llu'y happen to lie of the right form, they cannot harm the 
w In'at though tlu'y may attack other cereals if they be in 
the vicinity. The rust is esfiecially fond of Agro]nir(m 
repens, the well-know n quick-grass or quack-grass. Oni' 
might be willing to donate a bushel of wheat now and 
2 !)!) 
then, if the rust would only rim this pestiferous spi'cies 
out of ('xisti'iice. 
Under favorable' conditions, the whi'al rust bi'gins its 
lile cycle' in S|)ring een the' leave's e)f the* b;iibe'i ry. Ib're' 
the' fruiting ))arts foiin Ihie'ke'iie'el e-ushiein-like' giowlhs 
from e)ne' te) se've'i'al lime's the' eliame*t<'r e)!' a |iinh('ael. 
Spe)ri's fre)m Ihe'se' he)elie's are' hle)W n hy the' winel In wheal 
plants in the' vicinity anel the're' seM u[) an infe'e*lie)n whie'h 
lale'i' manife'sis ilse'lf in rusty pati'he's e)n the* h'axe'S anel 
sle'Dis, anel gi'e'atly I'e'eluci's Ihe'ir vige)i'. I'''re)m the' |)lants 
e)n the' whe'al ne'w spe)re's are' give'ii e)lf te) se'l up ne'W in- 
fe'Clie)ns, anel se) spre'ael the' misi'hie'f. Ale)ng le)warel tin' 
e'liel e)f the' se'ase)n, tw e)-ce'lle'el. elark-e'e)le)re'el speere's ai’e' 
pi'oeliie'e'el, anel Ihe'se' survive' the' w inle'r auel in spring se'l 
up the' infe'clion e)n the' barhe'iry again. I'''re)m the' fore'- 
ge)ing it we)ulel se'e'in that all that is re'epiire'd to fe)re've'r 
reune)ve' the) elange'r fre)m rust is le) reme)ve' the' harhe'iry. 
thus hre'aking its life' cycle', hut the' rust is ne)t se) he'lph'ss 
as all that. If ne) liarberry is at hanel the' rust mere'ly 
e)mits that part of its life e'ycle* anel se*ts up its infe'e'tie)n 
elire'ctly upon the' w he'al. In Inelia anel Australia, w he'ie' 
the' barberi'y eEes ne)t gre)w, the wheal rust is we'll 
kne)w n. P»e'me)ving the barbe'rry, tlie'ii, is e)nly e)ue' sle'j) in 
the' e'lfe)i't te) curl) the' pest. A se'conel inte'i'e'sling fae*t is 
that the fuithe'i' Se)ulh e)ne' goe's the' h'SS is the' harbe'i'ry 
cemceriie'el in spreading the',w heat l usl. In warm re'gie)ns 
the' summei' spe)res survive' the' w inle'r anel pre)pe)gate' the' 
rust, anel the' autumn fe)rm e)i' hlack rust, if il e)(*cui's, 
ele)es ne)t see'in to alfe'Ct the' barbei'i'y. In ce)e)le'r i'e'gie)ns 
the barberiy is e)fle'n heavily I'uste'el in s|)ring. the)ugh 
there' may be' e'xte*nsive are'as w hei'c it is ne)l alfe'cte'el. 
The ce)nnectie)n of the bai'be'rry anel the whe'al rust has 
been suspi'cle'el for a very le)ng time'. Laws we're fre- 
ejue'iitly maeh' against the; shiul), but it has e*e)ntinue'd te) 
he)lel its own. A half century age), the State e)f Massa¬ 
chusetts e)relere'el its extermination. 
Fre)ni the facts he'ie jiresente'el, il is very a[)pare'nl that 
wdiile the' liarberry is not the emiy me'lhoel by which 
whe'at rust is spre'ael. it may on occasion contribute' to 
this enel anel shouhl be reieile'd emi. especially in the vic¬ 
inity e)f whe'al lie'lels anel either ce're'al creips. In cilie'S 
anel teiwns, far remove'el freim grain tielels, it is preihably 
ne)t a very great menace, but since it is neil e'spe'cially eir- 
name'iital it sheiulel be' replae'cel as seiein as peissible by h'ss 
elange'reiLis anel more eb'ceirative' shrubs. Sjiirae'as, hy- 
elrangeas, geileh'n bell, sneiwball. ninebark, meick eirange'. 
re)se'-e)f-share)n, lilacs anel an immense' number e)f eithe'r 
lleiriferous shrubs w ill greiw w here'ver barbe'rry w ill. anel 
are far su|)e'rie)r te) it. Lastly, the' .lapane'se' barhe'riy. se) 
exte'usive'ly plante'el lor he'elge's. is not alfe'cte'el by the' 
rust anel ne'cel neit be disturbe'el. American Polanisl. 
The Natieinal Nurseryman. 
Ilatbeire), Pa. 
Kinel Ldite)!':— 
August 26. 1918. 
Lncle)se'el ple'ase' linel e'he'e'k for •'fl.50 lor whie'h e'xte'iiel 
my suhscriptie)!) eine' year to the' .Natieinal .Nurse'ryu);in. 
It is a line' traeh' jeiurnal ;inel mue*h use'fni infe)rmatie)n is 
give'll through its page's. 
Venn's truly. 
W. A. Ui.i.i.NeiEH, 
Lancaster, Ohio, H. IL No. 2. 
