1086 



EXrERIMKNT STATION KKCOIID. 



sj)i;iying w itii <(>|ii)cr ><ul])hate at tlic rate of 9 1))S. to 45 gal. of water. One l)arrel of 

 tlie solutiiin is siiHicii'ut for an acre and costw about 90 cts. 



The solution should be applied on a sunshiny day just as the wild mustard is 

 coming into bloom. No serious harm is done by this api)lication to Imrley, oats, or 

 clovt'r. Notes are also given on wild barley, rosin plant, and V^racted i)lantain. A 

 blight was observed on Egyptian peas and is Itelievcd to be due to AticorJiyUi jtini. 

 A brief aecount is also given of raspberry cane l)light and early and late blight of 

 potatoes. 



DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



Preliminary treatment of seed grain as a source of vegetative energy, 



J. !>. Jensen (Tidsskr. Lanilhr. I'lanteavl, 10 {1904), pP- 40-63). — The investigations 

 of the author as to the prevention of grain smut, which led to the Ceres-powder and 

 the hot-water methods, suggested that an increase in the vegetative energy of the 

 seed might l)e brought about by an appropriate preliminary treatment of'the seed, 

 tliat would favor a more vigorous development of the enzyms of the germinating 

 seed, without imjiairing thereby the germination of the seed through the heat or the 

 chemicals applied. 



it was recommended tq use a temi)erature of 5;^ to 54° C. in the hot-water treatment 

 for smut in oats, wheat, and rye, while for barley a softening of the grain for 2 hours 

 in cold water and subseciuent submerging in water of 50 to 51° was found necessary. 

 Jiy this method of preliminary treatment an increase of about 8.5 per cent of grain 

 and a similar increase in straw was secured, as the average result of 53 trials con- 

 ducted during 5 years, compared with seed not treated. At a temperature higher 

 than 51° a diminished yield was obtained, e. g., as the average of 10 trials w-ith grain 

 treated at 52.5° a 3 per cent smaller yield of grain than when the seed grain was not 

 treated. 



Through the adoption of a proper method of disinfection of the seed and a longer 

 time of treatment, viz, 4 to 5 days, an increase in the development of the ferments 

 tiiat transform the albuminoids during the germination is secured, which will result 

 in a marked increase in the yields harvested. The average increase in the yields 

 obtained by the 2 methods of smut prevention proposed by the author, followed by 

 a 4 to 5 days of " fore-culture," during a series of yeais, are shown below. In these 

 experiments 72 lots of oats and 53 of barley received the hot- water treatment and 54 

 oats and 45 barley were treated with the Ceres powder. 



Increased yiehh due to trentment for fo-nd pre rent Ion. 



Only about 1.25 i)er cent of the increase in the yield of oats and 0.25 per cent in 

 the case of barley came from the eradication of the smut, the rest being due to the 

 "fore-culture." In these experiments 25 per cent of the weight of the seed grain 

 was added of steeping liquid, and this quantity was added in 6 portions m case of 

 barley and m 3 portions in case ol oats. Where the seed grain is not wet in a tank 

 or a barrel, but on the barn floor, some of the liquid will be likely to drain off, and 



