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RED RUST.
"Beginner" wants lo know what treat-
ment be should adopt to prevent the
loss he had last year front red rust.
He «eke whether bluestone or formalin. <
ia the better pickle for the purpose.
There ls no known treatment of seed to
prevent red rust, nor is it likely that there j
ever will be. You appear to be confusing ;
émut or bunt with fed rust, whereas tue
two diseases are quite different in charac-
ter.
Bunt or smut eau be prevented by pick-
ling with various germicides, the common-
est) being bluestone, although formalin is
? largely used, and if the pickling bia done
with care and the-conditions for quick
germination are present, it is probably a
belier pickle than bluestone. There is
risk, however, and therefore beginners are
recommended lo stick to bluestone "under.
ordinary conditions tor the present. The
reason that & fungicide will prevent smut
is due to th© following f^ott.
Cunt or smut ie produced from spores
which attach themselves to tho grains of
wheat,.ano if they start to-grów when
tiie wheats plant atarte, the tiny smut
plant enters the young wheat plant and
grows inside it until ina «beat plant be
gms to form grain, wben it takes posses*
eion of tito soft wheat grainj and produces
millions of smut eporegv -When the grains
of seed wheat are inupfwed in bluestone
or other suitable germicida, the pickle de-
stroys tbe smut spores and prevent« infec-
tion of the young Plant- Pickling
is not a cure for emus, bul is a preven-
tive.
Red rust is also «. fungus «nd ls pro
.. <liv-cd from fpores, l?$l it il entirely differ
rin its nature from einut. It grows oh
i'^. letts« ¿nd stçmè of «beat plants.. ai)d
C v. is no known practicable way of te
vc: in? fte growth if the weather iondi
tioiM ore favourable, fortunately otir
niospheric conditions are usually so dry
that red rust J* not à serious Sisease id
Western Austrâlja, although it ls present
every year. A farniéf «an do nothing to
prevent r (\ jpiiel" attacking susceptible
wlient pln-oifii, nor caji fcé do aiVytiyng to
cure it v. hen the conditions are favour-
able.
At present a^l a farmer working in a
district lia sie to red rufl|i, if to 60W vàrie
'r'~ of wi; iat yh}en wilt either escape it
by cuielr ripening Or which" ¿ave nardy
conr! Itutions which resist its attacks.
Lact sea:-o i was favourabe for red rust in
- fi£me places, and there was serious loss iu
Âme districts for the first time since about
1668 But eveii in the coastal portions of the
Yictoiia district, which suffered most,
some varioties escaped or .resisted the dis-
ease almost entirely. In that district Yan-
dilla King does wrell in ordinary years, aud
last season it almost entirely resisted rust.
Teakle'* Red and Sailor's Fortune, al-
though only grown to a email estent, re-
sisted i-ed rust also, while Comeback,
Toby's Ltick, and some otters to à lesser
degree escape*! it.
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