EXERCISE 32. THE TREATMENT OF SEED OATS FOR 



SMUT 



Equipment: A bag of seed oats; formalin (forty per 

 cent solution); a clean sprinkling can; a shovel. 



Method: Spread the oats to be treated on a clean, 

 tight floor. Make up a solution which shall contain 

 formalin to the amount of one pint to fifty gallons of water. 

 Apply the formalin solution by means of the sprinkling 

 can, shoveling the oats over during the apphcation, in order 

 to secure a complete wetting of the grains. Continue the 

 application until all of the grains are thoroughly moistened, 

 but not so wet that they will stick together when pressed 

 in the hand. Shovel the oats into a pile and cover with 

 clean bags for a period of three or four hours. After the 

 removal of the bags the grain should be dried as rapidly 

 as possible by spreading it in a thin layer and shoveling it 

 over occasionally. The same treatment is effective in de- 

 stroying the spores of the stinking smut on seed wheat. 



The exercise may be continued by seeding two plots side 

 by side, one with the treated and the other with the untreated 

 seed. After the grain is ready to harvest determine by 

 count the per cent of smutted heads in the two plots. 



Discussion: Smut spores adhere to the grain and, when 

 the kernel sprouts, the fungus enters the plant, where it 

 grows without becoming visible until the plant is ready to 

 ripen. At this time the smut develops and converts the 



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