Wheat mildew

Wheat mildew is a wheat disease that affects the ear, and is brought on by causes somewhat similar to those that cause blight, though at a more advanced period of the season. If this disorder comes on immediately after the first appearance of the ear, the straw is also affected—but if the grain is nearly or fully formed, injury to the straw is less discernible. Wheat may mildew where the straw is perfectly fresh, but only rarely. A severe mildew, however, retards further grain and straw maturation and leads to death. Something akin to mildew is the gum, which, in all warm moist seasons, attaches itself to the ear, and often causes considerable damage. All these different disorders are generally accompanied by insects, and by minute parasitic vegetable growths, considered by many to be the cause of the damage. Their appearance, however, may justly be attributed to the diseased state of the plant; for wherever putrefaction takes place, either in animal or vegetable substances, the presence of these parasites will never be wanting.

Another disorder that affects wheat, which several people consider the real rust, is brought on by excessive heat, which makes the plants suffer from malnutrition, and become sickly and feeble. In this atrophic state a kind of dust gathers on the stalks and leaves, which increases with the disease, till the plant is in a great measure worn out and exhausted. The only remedy in this case, and it is one that cannot easily be administered by the hand of man, is a plentiful supply of moisture, by which, if it is received before consumption is too far advanced, the crop is benefited in a degree proportional to the extent of nourishment received, and the stage at which the disease has arrived.

Some people have recommended using blighted and mildewed wheat for seed. This, however may be hazardous. Light or defective wheat does vegetate and produce a plant, but the plant may be of poor quality and inapable of withstanding winter blasts.

References

Much of the text is taken from the Household Cyclopedia of 1881:

Wheat

History	Domestication Shattering Neolithic Revolution Tell Abu Hureyra Tell Aswad Triticeae

Types	Common Durum Einkorn Emmer Khorasan Norin 10 Red Fife Spelt Winter wheat

Agronomy	Wheat diseases (list) Wheat mildew Hessian fly

Trade	Australian Wheat Board Canadian Wheat Board Corn exchange Exports International Wheat Council Peak wheat Production statistics Protein premium Wheat pools in Canada

Parts of the plant and their uses	Stalk Straw Seed Bran Germ Chaff (husk) Endosperm Gluten

Basic preparations of the kernel	None Wheat berry Milling Farina Flour (types) Middlings Semolina Parboiling Bulgur

As an ingredient	Bread Couscous Cracker Flatbread Pasta Wheat beer Wheat germ oil Wheat gluten

Associated human diseases	Anaphylaxis Gluten-related disorders (including coeliac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, wheat allergy, dermatitis herpetiformis and gluten ataxia)

Related concepts	Bread riot Plant breeding Refined grains Staple food Wheatpaste Whole grain

Further information

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, November 06, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.

Wheat mildew

References

See also