306 



EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



7-8 EDWARD VII., A. 1908 



Field Plots op Wheat. 



Different preparation for a wheat crop. All on plots one-twentieth of an acre. 



Preparation. 



Rusted. 



Sown. 



Wheat after barley None 



II peas , 



II oats 



II wheat 



Wheat on summer-fallow 



II after millet 



Slightly 

 None . . 



May 10. 



II 10: 



,1 10. 



.1 10. 



II 10. 



,1 10. 



Yield 



per 

 Acre. 



Bush. Lbs. 



30 .. 



30 .. 



31 20 

 29 40 

 29 40 

 33 .. 



PREVENTIVES OF SMUT. 



The seed sown on these plots was very smutty, such as no farmer should use, 

 hence the test was a very severe one. 



The formalin was fresh and of the usual strength. 



The bluestone had been held over from two to four years and exposed to the air 

 for that length of time. It was used in order that the effect of long keeping might be 

 seen. The table shows that this old bluestone was not as effective as the fresh had 

 been in former tests. 



Yet, the fact that the plots, where formalin was used, were not entirely free from 

 smut, would show that very smutty seed should not he used even when treated tvith 

 great care. 



Seed should be handled with great care after being treated. If the seed is placed 

 on a floor where smutty wheat has been, or if infected grain is moved in the barn caus- 

 ing the smut spores to float in the air, or if the treated seed be put into bags which 

 have held smutty grain, it may become infected again. 



It seems to be uncertain how long smut spores will retain vitality in the ground. 

 It is well to treat the seed with formalin or bluestone every spring, whether smut has 

 been present or not. A farm may have been free for years and smut appear in 

 quantity without the source being known. 



