104 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



thoroughly dried before sowing. But if it is to be kept long before 

 sowing, or is to be sown with a grain drill, a certain degree of caution 

 which every fanner will understand, must be exercised to dry it 

 thoroughly so that it will not spT'out and S}»oil nor be too wet to work 

 well in the grain drill. In drying the grain and handling it afterward 

 care should be taken to wet the floor, utensils, bags, etc., with the 

 formalin solution so as to kill ever^^ trace of the smut on the things with 

 which the treated seed is to come in contact. 



The above treatment is inexpensive and simple to apply. We have 

 never heard of a case where it has failed to work. 



Hot Wafer Treatment. — The following treatment has been used for 

 years, and if carefully applied is practically sure. It is, howevec, more 

 cumbersome and laborious than the formalin method though the ex- 

 pense for material may be a little less. 



Soak the seed wiieat for ten minutes in water at 133 degrees F. Use 

 a tested thermometer only. Provide two vessels large enough to hold 

 twenty gallons each, if possible. One should contain v,'arm wa-ter at 

 about 120 degrees F., the other scalding water at 133 degrees. Into the 

 first vessel plunge the seed wheat in a burlaps sack or wire basket. 

 Keep it there until warm, then plunge into the second vessel, lifting 

 it out occasionally and shifting it about in the scalding water until every 

 kernel has been ex])Osed to the temperature. Remove from the second 

 vessel, at the end of ten minutes, and cool immediately, either by spread- 

 ing on a clean floor in a thin layer or plunging into a barrel of cold 

 water. Dry and sow, or sow broadcast at once. 



Seed once treated successfully by either of the above methods will 

 grow smut-free grain for a number of years. In fact, if every farmer 

 in the State would treat his seed wheat carefully this fall and keep 

 smutted wheat from coming into the State, there is no reason why we 

 should ever be troubled again with this pest. 



Tariety Tests. — The table below gives the results of our field trials of 

 varieties for 1900 and the average for 1899 and 1900 of those varieties 

 which were grown both vears. The 1899 vields were obtained from 

 plots of nearly an acre or more. The 1900 yields are from one-tenth 

 acre plots of summer fallow, liberally treated with a commercial fer- 

 tilizer. The seeding of all the varieties, except Marshall's Triumph, 

 was done Sept. 29 and 30. The Marshall's Triumph was not sown until 

 Oct. 5. 



None of the varieties entirely escaped the attacks of the Hessian Fly, 

 although the Dawson Golden Chaff stood up the best of all at the time 

 of harvest, the other varieties being about equally affected. The Winter 

 Fife seemed to be the least affected by the fly, but this variety was not 

 sown until Oct. 7. 



