On Smut in Wheat. 



threshed, these eggs stick to the tops of the sound 

 grains, which being sown, continue the evil. 



Mr. Caleb Kirk, who lives near Mr. Young, sent 

 me a specimen with the smut attached to the grains, 

 in consequence of the diseased sheafs having been 

 threshed among the sound, in which order it came to 

 his mill to be ground. He first passed it through the 

 barley mill,*^ and thereby removed the smut, (which 

 chiefly adheres to the downy substance at the upper end 

 of the grain,) and then found that it produced excellent 

 flour; whereas when ground without this operation, a 

 flour was produced of a dark colour, which, though it 

 rose well, yet spread out when baken, into the form of 

 a cake, and became compact ; and when cold was dry 

 and crumbly, and so hard, that a knife entered with 

 difficulty ; it was moreover w^ithout the agreeable taste 

 of bread.— Four bushels of infected grain yielded half 

 a bushel of smut ! 



From a paper in a French periodical work on domes- 

 tic and rural (Economy,t it appears, that by washing 

 and drying, smutty grain may be rendered fit for mill, 

 and for making wholesome bread, but to do this pro- 

 perly, the wheat must be stirred with a broom, and 

 rubbed with the hands, in small quantities at a time ; 

 the foul water must be let out of the cistern, and fresh 

 water put upon the wheat, until it runs oft' clear. If it 

 is washed at a river or a well, the basket must be plung- 

 ed in several times quickly, that the grain may be 



* Mr. Kirk makes pearl barley equal to any imported,, 

 and cheaper, 



f Bibliotheque Phisico — Economique. 



T 



