209 



land ;iiul use a varii'tv of wheat least atlccted l)y smut."' Ivotation 

 of crops will do much toward clcauing a soil that has become infected 

 with smut. •' Do not follow smutted wheat with wheat again for 

 one. or hetter still, foi' two years." Various fungicides have been 

 used to purify seed wheat infected with snnit. Sul])hate of copper 

 (blue vitriol ) is now largely nsed for this puri)0se. Different methods 

 for its application are explained in the bulletin, but the author advises 

 to thoroughly wet the smutted seed " with a solution of bine vitriol, 

 using one })ound or more to a gallon of water, and either soav damp or 

 first dry with ])laster or slaked lime." Xo remedy can be nsed after 

 the grain is sown, but " clean seed upon a clean field will result in a 

 clean croi)."" To prevent smut on wheat " costs not a fraction of the 

 trouble or expense that it does to remove the Colorado beetle from 

 potato vines." while inattention to this disease may result in loss. 



BJnck s/n xt ( Ustilago segetum) (pp. 19-23) . — This smnt is odorless, 

 not very conspicuous in the field, and does not show in the thrashed 

 grain. For these reasons a loss of even 10 per cent of the crop rarely 

 attracts attention or comment. Black smnt is more common than 

 stinking smnt, and attacks wheat, oats, barle_y, and rye. Essentially 

 the same means shoidd be taken to keep a farm free from black smnt 

 as Avere recommended in the case of stinking snnit, but when blue 

 vitriol is nsed as a fungicide for black smut, grain Avith hulls, like 

 oats and barley, should be soaked longer than Avheat. 



BULLETIN No. 29, DECEMBER, 1889. 



Grasses of Indiana, J. Troop, M. S. (pp. ,5-44) (illustrated). — 

 This contains brief. i)ppu]ar descriptions of 128 species in 50 genera 

 of grasses found in Indiana. The descriptions are illustrated with 

 19 plates taken from the Reports of the United States Department of 

 Agricultiu'e, and Professor Real's "'Grasses of America." 



IOWA. 



Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station. 



]hj)(irliiiiiit of lotia State College of Af/rieiiJtiire (lud Meehaiiic Arts. 

 Location. Ames. Directoi', R. P. Speer. 



BULLETIN No. 6, AUGUST, 1889. 



Exi'KRiMKNT Station avheat ano oats in 1889, R. P. Si'eer (pp. 

 199-203). 



^Vheaf. — From the effect of rust. l)light. chinch-bug. deterioration 

 of the soil, and other causes, the wheat cro]i in Iowa has declined from 

 an average of 20 to 'Mi l)ushels ])er acre twenty years ago to not more 

 than half that amoinit now. I'he peojtle of Iowa are compelled to 

 send to Minnesota and Dakota for large ([uaiuities of breadstuffs. 

 The Iowa Station is. therefore, endeavoring to find hardier and more 

 productive varieties of Avheat which may be profitably grown in that 

 State. In 1888 rust and blight rendered the experiments Avith tAvelve 



