EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



459 



enough to prevent excessive loss from smut, but occasional occurrence 

 arising from spores blown from near-by fields must be expected. 



With a crop grown intensively, such as sweet corn or special lots of 

 seed corn, rogueiug of smutted plants early in the season is certainly 

 to be advised. This with rotation will prevent loss. With corn as a field 

 crop the pulling and destroying by fire of any smutted or deformed plants 

 seen during cultivation is advisable. It is not known whether it will 

 be practical to attempt to further eradicate the early infections by 

 field inspections, etc. Whatever is done, harvest must come early in the 

 season before the smut growth gets powdeiy. 



Farmers, therefore, must not rely on seed treatment for corn. Instead 

 they must see in rotation of crops their best ally in the battle with a wast- 

 ing plant disease. The hope of the future lies in the securing of smut 

 resistant sorts, but as yet none of these are known or tested for Mich- 

 igan conditions. 



27. Growing corn in a proper rotation is the most effective means of controlling corn smut. 



