1S37] 



FARMERS' RKGISTER. 



S<I3 



Preve/dwn of Smut, Canker, and Rusl.—A\- 

 thoiiorli the ascertf\inmont of the real causes of the 

 destmcluiii of corn, which we have been consid- 

 erinij, lines not ailvaiice our knowletij^e so far as 

 could be wished of the means of prevention, it 

 teaches its the almost equally important lesson, 

 that man}- thint^s vaunted as preventives must be 

 totally inefficacious. If M. Bauer's opinion indeed 

 be correct, as it appears to us to be, that the seeds 

 of the smiit-funn-us, each plant of which, according 

 to the hii^h authority of M. Fries (Si/st. MycoL), 

 produces upwardsof ten millions ol'seeds, are scat- 

 tered on the soil wbere the smutted corn <rrows, 

 lying in wait to attack the next crop the instant it 

 germinates, no preparation of the seed-corn before 

 sowing can be o( the slightest use. The only likely 

 means of clearing a field thus infected would be 

 paring and burning the soil; or, supposing all or 

 most of the smiit-seeds to enter the roots'of the 

 next crop, to sow a thick crop of corn and cut it 

 green for cattle, or plough it down as manure, be- 

 fore the funguses arrived at maturity to again scat- 

 ter their seeds. An abundant liininir ol"such a soil 

 mitrht also prove advantageous, from the lime, 

 while in a caustic state, burning and destroying 

 the seeds. "^ 



It is upon the latter principle that iVl. Bauer re- 

 commends the steeping and washing of seed-corn 

 in lime-water, endeavoring to cleanse the corn so 

 eflectualiy that every particle ol' the fungi and their 

 seed be entirely removed Irom the grains; "but," 

 he adds, '-as these extremely minute fungi, when 

 once mixed with the seed-wheat, insinuate them- 

 selves into the grooves at the backs and the b.^urds 

 at the tops of the wheat grains, I think it is almost 

 impossible to dislodge them by washing. I once re- 

 ceived some samples which had been so prepared 

 and washed in salt-water, and declared to be per- 

 fectly clean, but on my putting some of these puri- 

 fied grains into water in a watch-glass, and leaving 

 ihem to soak about twelve hours, on bringing them 

 under the microscope I found many of the fungi 

 floating on the water." 



The lime-water ;icfs as we have seen by des- 

 troying the vegetative power of the seeds of the 

 smut, canker, or rust, and it will thus kill such 

 seeds as may be attached to corn by steeping it 

 for twelve hours in strong lime-water, and after- 

 wards drying it before it is sown. In large quan- 

 tities of corn, however, it is not likely that even by 

 this method all seeds of the fungi can be destroyed, 

 and it will not of course have any effect on those 

 seeds which are already scattered in the fields 

 about to be sown. M. Bauer found, by repeated 

 experiment, that such steeping in lime-water does 

 destroy the vitality of the seeds of both smut and 

 canker in seed-w"heat. In oats and barley, the 

 kernels of which are so tightly enclosed in the 

 husks, the lime-water cannot readily penetrate, 

 and consequently the sleeping of these is not 

 likely to be so efiectual. 



It will not be necessary to mention other steeps, 

 many of which are as much calculated to injure 

 the corn as the fungi; but it may be necessary to 

 state, that among the numerous comparative ex- 

 periments with various steeps which we have pe- 

 rused, we do not recollect one of the least value to 

 found an inference upon. They are all vanue and 

 inaccurate, from the genuine causes not being well 

 understood. Experiments on this subject. ''to be 

 worth any thing, must have the seeds of the fun- 



guses actually brought into contact with the roota 

 and other parts of corn-plants at different stages 

 of their growth. Above all, it is important that 

 these artificially infected plants be grown in soil 

 carefully fl-eed by fire fi-om the ciiance of contain- 

 ing fungus-seeds, as well as to have the corn- 

 plants so enclosed by glass, or otherwise, that the 

 seeds of the fungi might not be brought to them 

 by the winds. AH experiments of this kind per- 

 formed without such precautions, by sowing 

 patches in a field with sound, intected, or steeped 

 seed-corn, are worse than worthless, as the results 

 cannot be otherwise than fallacious. 



For tlie Farmers' Register. 



MR. KYAN's process FOR PREVENTIIVG DRY- 

 ROT. OR PRESERVING THE TIMBER OF RAIL- 

 WAYS, BY THE USE OF CORROSIVE SUBLI- 

 MATE. 



[From the earliest annunciation of Mr. Kyan's di3- 

 covery, we were impressed with the belief of its im- 

 portant value, and especially for railways — and have 

 already published in this journal the fullest known ac- 

 couats of the process, (at pp. 320 to 322, vol. ii, and pp. 

 368, 369, of vol. iii). But the most plausible theoreti- 

 cal schemes often are found opposed by unforeseen and 

 insuperable practical obstructions; and these failures 

 are seldom announced as loudly as the earlier anticipa- 

 tions of success. Hence it arises, that, while new dis- 

 coveries, alleged to be of great importance, are contin- 

 ually announced to the public, and maybe heard of not 

 only in scientific andeconomicai journals, but in almost 

 every nswsi:aper, we rarely meet with statements suf- 

 ficiently clear or conspicuous, of the many failures of 

 these discoveries, when subsequently attempted to be 

 put to practical use, or of the fewer cases of practical 

 success, or proofs of value aUbrded by time and expe- 

 rience. For these reasons, we were both informed and 

 gratified by hearing recently, in conversation with Mr 

 I'otten, his opinion of the value of this process, and his 

 estimates of the cost of the application to railway con- 

 struction; and therefore we requested- of him a com- 

 munication on the subject for publication — which has 

 been since received, and is now given to our readers. 

 Mr. Totten's acquirements and practical experience as 

 a civil engineer, give much weight to his opinions on 

 this subject; and even if his estimate of the necessary 

 cost, is but one-fourth of the true amount, there would 

 still be a prodigious saving of the expense of railways, 

 found in the adoption of this plan for preserving timber, 

 and of being able to substitute other kinds of timber, 

 that otherwise are so perishable, as to be totally unfit 

 for use. 



Will not the directory of the Raleigh and Gaston Rail 

 Road Company serve the public interests, so far as to 

 make an experiment of this plan, upon a few miles of 

 that railway.' Ed. Far. Reg.] 



The discovery of an effectual preventive of dry- 

 rot is no longer a matter of doubt. In England 

 "Kyan's process" is now very generally adopted in 

 preparing the timbers lor all important buildings — 

 for ships, and for the sills of rail roads. Of how 

 much more importance is this discovery to Ame- 



