1882.] ■ FUNGI INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 183 



said to be very desirable, for trial. I planted it in a garden 

 with other corn which was not unusually smutty. The new 

 seed grew and produced corn that was exceedingly smutty, so 

 much so that I was inclined to condemn it and wrote the 

 party to that effect. He replied that he did not know that 

 there was any difficulty of that kind ; it seemed to him that 

 my experience was peculiar. I planted that seed again this 

 year and again the corn was exceedingly smutty, so much so 

 that it was really not wortli raising. I also got a new paper 

 of seed from him and planted that, and the crop from that 

 seed was also very smutty. From my own seed raised from 

 the smutty corn, I selected a portion and soaked it in sul- 

 phate of copper. I planted that in another part of the farm, 

 and where, in the first place, I had from fifteen to thirty per 

 cent, at least — the smut was so severe that it ruined the 

 stalk growth ; it appeared on every stalk, in every part of it 

 — on the field where I planted the soaked corn, not one per 

 cent, was smutty. It was cleaner than the average of my 

 field corn. This is but one experiment, but it would seem to 

 be worth following up. 



I was put on a committee to study corn smut this summer 

 by the Franklin Farmer's Club. I tried to find the most 

 smutty ear I could in my corn crib, and I found nothing that 

 had more than one black kernel ; that was the remains of last 

 year's smutty corn. I shelled that corn and planted it after 

 soaking it in the vitriol. The corn from that seed was clearer 

 from smut than the average of my field planted without prep- 

 aration. These are only indications; they are simply first 

 experiments. 



Prof Brewer, I may state that in the answers to the 

 census schedules that I speak of, I found a number of cases 

 where people stated that they believed it helped, but they had 

 nothing to prove it. They believed it helped, and they 

 wanted to be on the safe side. 



Prof. Miles. I will say nothing in regard to the presump- 

 tion of this smut being propagated by the seed, but in regard 

 to its being conveyed through the soil I have a large number 

 of instances in my mind. I have in my mind now two pieces 



