EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS 



197 



known smut boils) near the place of infection. In two or three weeks 

 after the infection the characteristic smut boils appear. 



This disease has been known since the discovery of America and has 

 followed the introduction of corn raising into all parts of the globe. 



The loss to the corn crop is rarely a serious one, in ordinary years, 

 not averaging over two per cent. 



Prevention. — No remedy for corn smut is known. From the above 

 account of its life history it is evident that it is useless to treat the 

 seed previous to planting. No doubt fungicides sprayed upon the grow- 

 ing corn might check the disease, but this treatment is not practicable. 



Certain precautions may lessen the disease, for instance, cutting out 

 and destroying smutted parts before the spores ripen and the use of 

 chemical fertilizers and well rotted manure with a reasonable rotation 

 of crops. The use of manure from stock fed with silage of smutted corn 

 certainly tends to increase the liability to infection in fields to which 

 such manure is applied. Our knowledge of the manner in which the 

 disease is carried from field to field is wanting." 



The Feeding Experiment. 



The unusual prevalence of smut in the College corn fields in the fall 

 of 1895 furnished the material for an experiment to test the effect of 

 feeding corn smut both in moderate and excessive quantities to dairy 

 cows. 



The smut was gathered after the corn was cut and no attempt was 

 made to entirely separate the husks and small abortive ears from the 

 actual smut boils. Many masses of smut fell to the ground and brought 

 away with them small quantities of sand. The figures given in the tables 

 below, therefore, indicate not the exact amount of smut consumed, since 

 with the smut there was a small but uncertain per cent of sand, husks 

 and small pieces of leaves and abortive ears. The smut was drawn 

 to the bam as fast as gathered and stored in bulk. It suffered no appar- 

 ent fermentation or change of any kind before it was fed. 



The smut was given to the cows mixed with their grain ration, which 

 consisted of corn, four parts; wheat bran, three parts; ground oats, two 

 parts, and oil meal, one part. 



The rough feed consisted of corn stalks cut into inch lengths and a 

 small ration of hay, never exceeding six pounds per day, thus compelling 

 the cows to derive the principal part of their nourishment from the corn 

 stalks and the smut and grain ration. 



The four cows used in the experiment were grades, apparently vigor- 

 ous and healthy, purchased in the vicinity of the College. The essential 

 facts in regard to them are as follows: 



