WHEAT 97 



should be set to sow about one-fifth to one-fourth 

 more grain than the usual amount. If the smut 

 spores adhering to the wheat grains are destroyed, 

 there is little danger from the smut spores that 

 may remain in the soil coming into contact with 

 the young wheat plants, and the resulting crop 

 should be practically free from stinking smut. 



Formaldehyde is a poison, and if the treated 

 wheat is eaten by poultry or other livestock while 

 it is wet it is likely to injure or kill the animals, 

 but when the wheat has become fairly dry there 

 is no danger from feeding the treated grain be- 

 cause the formaldehyde evaporates and no poison 

 will remain in the wheat. 



Loose smut of wheat is less injurious than hid- 

 den or stinking smut, but it is harder to control. 

 Loose smut destroys the heads and grain the 

 same as stinking smut but it matures earlier and 

 the smut spores are scattered by the wind while 

 the wheat is growing. Some of these spores fall 

 into the glumes of the growing wheat and sprout, 

 and infect the kernels and make some growth 

 before the grain reaches maturity. These young 

 smut plants remain dormant from the time the 

 wheat matures until the grain is planted, when 

 they start growth again with the sprouting wheat, 

 and growing within the wheat plant reach ma- 

 turity forming spores on the spike where the 

 wheat grain should have formed. These black- 

 ened or bare spikes occur soon after the wheat 

 reaches the full heading stage. 



It is difficult to destroy the young smut plants 

 which have started within the wheat kernels. 



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