THE TREATMENT OF SEED OATS FOR SMUT 79 



grains into a mass of dry, stinking powder. The yield of 

 wheat and oats is frequently very much reduced by the 

 presence of this fungus, and in case of wheat the grain may 

 be rendered unfit for flour because of the offensive odor. The 

 treatment of the seed with the formalin solution is an effective 

 remedy against the smut of oats and the stinking smut of 

 wheat. Corn smut, however, has a different life history 

 and cannot be controlled by seed treatment. 



This fungus develops in the soil and produces spores 

 which are carried by the wind. If one of these spores finds 

 lodgment in a wound on the stalk or ear, it develops and 

 forms a smut mass. In some years the climatic conditions 

 are much more favorable for the development of these smut 

 masses than in other years. The only remedy is to go 

 through the field, cut off the masses of smut and burn 

 them to prevent the further production of spores. 



