364 THE farmers' handbook. 



Treatment of the Seed for Smut. 



If the crop is sown for green feed, pickling- is unnecessary; but if it be 

 intended for hay or grain, the seed should always be pickled, otherwise there 

 is a great risk of Smut appearing in the crop. Some farmers will argue 

 that a little Smut in the hay is of no consequence; hut smutty heads always 

 detract from the appearance, reduce the value from a feeding point of view, 

 and if the infection is serious, lower the prices obtained on the market. 

 Cases have been reported where stock have actually refused to cat hay that 

 has been badly smutted. 



The same remarks apply to the grain. Large quantities of oats are 

 purchased to feed racehorses and animals doing fast work, and trainers 

 and agents authorised to buy will not touch grain that contains Smut in 

 any quantity. It will thus be seen that methods of prevention must be 

 employed if a clean crop is to be harvested and top market prices obtained. 



During the last few years the proportion of Smut in oats has largely 

 increased. This is evidently due to lack of pickling of the seed. 



Both formalin and biuestone have proved effective fungicides; but as the 

 former requires much more careful handling, and is somewhat risky under 

 certain conditions, farmers are advised to use biuestone and lime-water 

 in the way recommended for pickling wheat. (See page 336 of this Hand- 

 book.) The same general method may" be followed in every particular, 

 except that it is advisable to allow oat seed to remain in the pickle a 

 little longer than in the case of wheat. The reason for this is easily under- 

 stood when it is pointed out that the spores of Loose Smut of oats (unlike 

 Stinking Smut or Bunt of wheat) are blown about by the wind before all 

 plants have formed their seed ; the result is that some of these spores often 

 find their way between the scales that ultimately clasp the seed firmly, 

 and any fungicide that merely wets the outside of the grain may not reach 

 the enclosed spores. Hence any treatment of the seed, to be effective, must 

 be sufficiently prolonged to allow the solution to reach the spores which 

 have been enclosed beneath the hull of the oat. 



If the seed is treated in a chaff bag, constant agitation whilst in the 

 biuestone is very necessary to ensure thorough wetting of all the grain. 

 Owing to the different formation of the seed, oats take considerably longer 

 to dry than wheat, more particularly if lime-water is used after the blue- 

 stone. The quickest method of drying is to spread the seed out on a piece 

 of canvas or a tarpaulin, which is raised from the ground on a stand, so as 

 to allow of a free current of air underneath the cloth. It will be found 

 that the seed will dry much quicker in this way, and that there is much less 

 risk of stones, sand, or grit of any description getting mixed with the seed. 



Late maturing varieties arc more subject to Smut than early ones. 



Varieties. 



Oats may be divided into two classes with reference to the appearance of 

 the head — 



(1) Tree, type or those having erect branching panicles, such as Algerian 

 and Lachlan ; 



(2) Side oats with contracted panicles, like White Tartarian. 



