LOOSE SMUT OF WHEAT 213 



Swingle, Year Boo Iz^ U.S. Dept. Agric, 1894, p. 414. 

 Close, N. York State Stat. Bid. 131, p, 441. 



LOOSE SMUT OF WHEAT 



{Ustilago tritici, Jensen.) 



This fungus attacks the grain and also the chaff, 

 destroying the whole, and forming a loose black, dirty 

 mass, which usually disappears before harvest-time, leaving 

 only the stalk of the ear. The powder is not foetid. 



Var. folicola (P. Henn.) develops on the leaf and leaf- 

 sheath of wheat, and is not uncommon in Egypt. 



Preventive Means. — A difficult disease to combat, the 

 ordinary hot-water method not being effective, neither is 

 the bluestone method. Kellerman and Swingle state that 

 certain forms of hot-water treatment are effective, but 

 these injure the germinative power of the seed. The 

 safest method is to obtain seed from a locality free from 

 the disease. 



* 



MAIZE SMUT 



{^Ustilago mays zeae, Magnus.) 



This disease appears to occur wherever maize or Indian 

 corn is cultivated, and has received attention from 

 scientists for a long time past, Brefeld, however, having 

 contributed most towards a correct knowledge of its life- 

 history. The disease usually appears first on the leaves, 

 and not before the plant is about a yard high ; afterwards 

 at the junction of leaf-sheath and blade; finally the ear of 

 corn is attacked. In some instances one or other alone 



