ENEMIES OF FARM CROPS. 127 



directing the spray. The nozzle should be capably of 

 breaking the water up into a fine mist spray, so as to wet 

 the plant completely with the least possible expenditure of 

 liquid. The two more satisfactory nozzles are those of the 

 Nivcr and the Vermorel type. A suitable pump with nozzle 

 and hose may be obtained of any pump manufacturer or 

 hardware dealer at a cost of from §13 to $15. If one with 

 brass fittings be secured it will also serve for the application 

 of fungicides. The outfit outlined above may be mounted 

 on a cart or wagon, the additional elevation secured in this 

 way facilitating the spraving of trees, or for more extended 

 operations, the pump may be mounted on a large water 

 tank. 



PREVENTION OP OAT-S3IUT. (Goff.) 



The smut of oats, which causes an annual loss to the 

 farmers of the United States amounting in the aggregate to 

 millions of dollars, may be entirely prevented by treating 

 the seed oats before sowing, at a cost for labor and materials 

 which need not exceed five cents per acre of oats sown. 



Two methods of treatment have been found satisfactory. 

 These we will call for convenience the Formaldehyd Treat' 

 ment and the Hot-water Treattiient. The first has the ad- 

 vantage of being the simpler, but it requires a small cash 

 outlay for materials. The second requires no materials or 

 apparatus except what the farmer already has, unless it be 

 a good thermometer. 



The Formaldehyd Treatment. — Soak the seed oats one hour 

 in a solution of formaldehyd, made by adding one ounce of 

 formaldehyd to every 3^ gallons of water. Place the water 

 in a barrel, or other convenient vessel, add the formaldehyd 

 to it, and pour in one and one-half bushels of seed oats for 

 each 3^ gallons of the solution. At the end of one hour^ 

 draw off or pour ofif the part of the solution that is not ab- 

 sorbed by the oats, and spread the oats on a clean floor to 

 dry. They should be shoveled over once or twice a day 

 until dry enough to sow. 



