REPORT OF MR. JAMES MURRAY 275 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



STANDAKD AND COMMERCIAL GRADES OF WHEAT. 



There is, every year, a proportion of the grain of this province that, if sold, grades 

 low, and in consequence the price is greatly reduced. On account of the small price 

 that it will bring on the market, there is always a temptation to use the low-grade 

 grain for seed and sell the grain of good quality, as there is an opinion, still quite 

 prevalent, that badly frozen grain, or grain that for other reasons grades low, makes 

 rlmost, if not quite as satisfactory seed as high-class grain. 



In order to get some more definite information on this matter, seed of all the 

 commercial grades was secured from the Chief Grain Inspsctor, Winnipeg, and 

 sowings were made of each under uniform conditions. The conditions for growth, as 

 regards weather and soil, were ideal, and the results that we secured this year may be 

 considered as representing what might be expected under the most favourable conditions. 

 There was a marked difference in yield between the No. 1 Hard and No. 2 Feed — 

 the two extremes. Experiments of this kind require to be conducted for several years 

 before the results are of much value, and it will, therefore, be repeated before drawing 

 any definite conclusions. 



EMMER AND SPELT. 



These wheats which are unsuitable for milling, but are used to a limited extent 

 as feed for stock, have been grown here for a number of years. The average yield 

 for the last four years of Common Emmer was 3,405 lbs. per acre; Red Spelt, 2,655 

 lbs. ; Red Emmer, 2,552 lbs. ; while White Spelt produced only 1,955 lbs. The grain 

 grown through the country by the name of Spelt or Speltz, is, properly speaking, 

 Common Emmer, by far the best of this class of wheats. Common Emmer alone was 

 grown this year on the Experimental Farm, the yield being at the rate of 2,210 lbs. of 

 grain per acre. 



SMUT PREVENTIVES. 



During the past twenty years, various chemicals have been tested to secure one 

 for the prevention of smut in grain crops. Little difficulty has been experienced in 

 controlling this disease in wheat or oats, but no practicable method has yet been 

 introduced that will entirely prevent it in barley. The formalin treatment has been 

 found, after numerous trials, to be highly satisfactory. Formalin can now be secured 

 almost everywhere; it is inexpensive, the solution is easily prepared, and its efficiency, 

 when properly applied, is beyond doubt. One pound of formalin is sufiicient to make 

 thirty-two gallons of solution, and this quantity will easily cover forty bushels of 

 wheat, or about twenty-eight of oats. Dipping and sprinkling have given equally 

 good results, but carelessness in either method of treatment is sure to bring dis- 

 appointment. 



Bluestone has also been found effective as a re-agent for destroying smut, but 

 its use has not been attended with quite as satisfactory results as formalin. A 

 bluestone solution of the proper strength is prepared by dissolving one pound of 

 bluestone in six gallons of soft water. As with the formalin solution, it makes no 

 difference how this solution is applied so long as every kernel of grain is thoroughly 

 moistened. 



Other treatments that have been on trial as preventives of smut include those 

 with sulphide of potassium, sulphate of iron, agricultural bluestone, massel powder, 

 anti-fungi, salt, and hot water. None of these have proven to be nearly as effectual 

 as either formalin or bluestone. The hot water treatment and sulphide of potassium 

 both effectively prevented the disease, but the methods of application are too tedious 

 to permit of either treatment coming into general use. Agricultural bluestone and 

 anti-fungi are both mixtures of copper sulphate and iron sulphate, and their effective- 



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