Timely Hints for Farmers. 243 



thresh out the grain every kernel was found to be destroyed by 

 what is popularly known as "stinking smut." Further examina- 

 tion of the straw lying upon the ground revealed but few unsmut- 

 ted heads. The foreman of the ranch reported that about one-third 

 of the grain hay raised in this field had been smutted with this 

 fungus for the past two years, the seed each season having 

 been obtained from Indian sources. He reported still further 

 that the seed sown had a very bad fetid odor, indicating, without 

 much doubt, the presence of this disease. 



After making inquiries of several responsible individuals re- 

 garding the prevalence of smutty wheat, a circular letter was 

 addressed to the millers of the Territory, asking them for certain 

 information upon the subject. Returns from these letters indi- 

 cate that more or less smut is offered for sale at all the mills 

 heard from, and that the quantity varies from 2 to 20 per cent of 

 the total amount purchased. In one instance fully one-half of the 

 flour ground is reported to be dark with smut. One correspond- 

 ent reports wheat to be injured to the extent of 50 per cent of its 

 value for milling purposes, while another speaks of wheat offered 

 for sale which he refuses to buy at any price. The returns show 

 still further that all but one of the Indian tribes in the Territory 

 invariably raise smutty wheat. Our own observations regarding 

 crops raised from seed bought of them, indicate that there are 

 some cases in which their crops are in a very deplorable condition 

 indeed. 



Smut is caused by a parasitic fungus, the spores of which 

 may be found in the hairy ends of the kernels of smutty 

 wheat. These spores germinate at the same time as the wheat, 

 and send small tubes into the young plants. These develop and 

 grow apace with the wheat the entire season, but cannot be seen, 

 except by the aid of a microscope, until the berry begins to form, 

 when the fungus distorts the kernel and fills it with a smutty 

 mass of spores covered with a thin shell. When this shell is 

 broken by threshing, the spores are set free and cling to the 

 hairy ends of the healthy berries, where they are again ready 

 to produce another crop of smut the next season. 



There are many plant diseases, some of them occurring in 

 Arizona, which have baffled every attempt of the investigator to 



