Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 113, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1919 — WHEAT PLAGUE REPORTED TO HAVE STRUCK INDIANA [ARTICLE]

WHEAT PLAGUE REPORTED TO HAVE STRUCK INDIANA

A serious wheat disease resembli ing the Australian “take-all’* disease • lias made its appearance near Grani ite City, 111. Its presence in Indiana •is suspected, lit is highly desirable to know immediately whether the disease has come into our state and if so, at what points it has established itself. In the fields the disease appears in more or less circular patches varying in size from 5 to 26 feet in diameter, which are conspicuous because of the marked stunting of the <plants which are often only a few inches high when healthy plants are knee-high. In one field visited the disease was j present in such severity that most of the plant were stunted or dead with only an occasional normal plant, giving the field a very ragged appearance. The diseased plants from such fields are characterized by a dark discoloration and soft rotting of the j leaf sheaths which, as the disease i progresses, penetrates to the stem I and finally, causes the latter to rot , off at the crown.. Such plants tend to send out more shoots which re--1 suit in a thick rosette of short shoots, t The diseased plants also have a 1 darker green color than the healthy I ones. I Every farmer in Jasper county should inspect his wheat fields at once and report any suspected trouble to the county agricultural agent. Specimens should be furnished the agent also wherever possible. Immediate action is urged in this important matter.