S46 FARMER'S ASSISTANT. 



was effectually washed in clear spring- water, and sown, arid 

 Was entirely tree from smut. 



In order that the wheat be effectually washed, it should 

 be put into two or three changes of such water, and well 

 rubed and stired about, so as to cleanse the grain entirely 

 from the smut. Mr. Ecroyd says the Man who made these 

 trials had a premium given him, by a number of 1 armers, 

 for the discovery; and that, in the way just mentioned, he 

 would produce smutty wheat from seed originally clean, and 

 clean wheat from seed originally smutty, in drills, sown 

 alternately in the same Reid. 



It has been observed that seed-wheat, which has been 

 well ripened before harvesting, is much less liable to smut 

 than that which has been cut early. Let the wheat for seed 

 be the last harvested, and let it be kept by itself, perfectly 

 dry, until it is threshed out. Perhaps the better way 

 would be, to thresh it out in the field when in a very dry 

 state. The reason assigned for this is, that smut is believ- 

 ed to be somewhat infectious ; and that therefore if wheat, 

 entirely free of this disorder, be put in a mow with smutty 

 wheat, the whole mass will become more or less infected 

 with smut, by reason of the sweating or heating of the 

 mow. 



Wheat that is very smutty in the field should not be har- 

 vested, until the crop is so fully ripe and dry that it will 

 shell out considerably in harvesting; by this mean the grains 

 of smut are mostly broken and dissipated by the harvesting 

 and threshing. Threshing in the field would no doubt, in 

 this case, be preferable ; as the drier the crop is, when 

 threshed, the more readily would the smut-grains be 

 broken. 



SNOW. In the northern States, snow is very useful in 

 protecting Winter-grain and grass from the severity of the 

 frost. Winter-grain or grasses, which have been covered 

 through the frosiy season, will grow much more rapidly in 

 the Spring than those which have lain bare. Snow may, 

 however, fall too soon, arid lie too long, for Winter-grain, 

 as in that case it is apt to be smothered. 



Snow is useful in preserving all fresh meat, during the 

 cold season. Let the meat be first a little frozen on the 

 outside, then put it, on a cold day, into casks filled with 

 snow, laying the snow between the pieces, so that they will 

 not touch each other, nor the sides of the cask. The whole 

 is to be constantly kept liable to the action of the frost ; and 

 in this way the meat will neither grow dry, nor lose it color, 

 during the frosty season. 



