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only eighty-seven per cent. of the full crop. Figuring on this basis the an- 
nual loss from oat smut amounts to 7,770,115 bushels. This is more than 
the total yield of Benton, Allen and Tippecanoe, three of the largest oat- 
growing counties in the State. At the average price of oats of thirty-five 
cents per bushel the loss in cash value equals $2,719,539. The cost of 
treating seed oats with the formaldehyde solution would be about two 
cents per acre, or $34.00 for all seed sown in the State. The net profit 
resulting from the treatment would be, therefore, considerably over two 
and one-half million dollars. To gain this amount every year by practic- 
ing the treatment is certainly worth the effort, and practical instructions 
and demonstrations along this line in all oat growing sections of the State 
are highly desirable. 
The formaldehyde treatment of seeds oats, as recommended by the 
Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station, is briefly as follows: 
Spread out the seed on a floor and sprinkle with a solution of one pint 
of 40 per cent. formaldehyde to 50 gallons of water until thoroughly 
moist. Shovel over repeatedly to distribute the moisture evenly, then 
shovel into a pile and cover with sacks or canvas for at least two hours. 
The seed may be sown as soon as dry enough to run without clogging the 
drill. If to be kept longer than one day, grain should be dried as rapidly 
as possible by spreading in a thin layer and stirring occasionally with a 
rake. Avoid reinoculating with smut from smutting sacks or bins after 
treatment. One gallon of the solution will treat a little more than one 
bushel of oats. 
In order to facilitate the work of treating the grain, machines have 
been invented which much simplify the labor and enable one to treat 
large quantities of grain in a comparatively short time. Several types of 
these machines are now on the market selling for twenty dollars or more 
each. 
If total destruction of the oat crop in three counties occurred, it would 
arouse the farmers of the State to action. Why should not the loss of 
more than two and one-half million dollars distributed over the State do 
so? If all farmers in Benton County treated their seeds oats they would 
save enough in one season to build at least eight township schoolhouses, 
each costing not less than twelve thousand dollars. And then they could 
Save ehough every year to pay the salaries of all their school teachers. 
Many other counties in the oat-growing sections could do equally well. 
