FOR BETTER CROPS 10 J 



Fungicidal treatment for rusts has so far proved of liitle 

 value. The best work bein^^ done is the effort to produce rust 

 resisting varieties through selection and hybridization. 



Treatment for Smat — Smut is more easily combated than 

 some other pests that wheat is heir to. The infection is caused 

 by the use of smutty seed, and not by smut spores in the soil. 

 The smut makes its attack when the young wheat plant first 

 pushes through the soil, as the spores are sown with the wheat 

 and germinate at the same time. They live in the tissues of the 

 plant and take enough nourishment from the parent plant to 

 keep themselves alive, but they never entirely kill the wheat 

 plant as the rusts do. They live with the wheat until maturity 

 and deposit their spores on the ripened grain or replace the 

 grain in the head of wheat according to the variety of smut 

 that has attacked the plant. If smutty wheat can be treated 

 with some chemical that will kill the spores and not injure the 

 vitality of the wheat, the trouble may be easily met. One of the 

 cheapest and surest remedies for smut is the application of a 

 solution of formaldehyde, also known as formalin. This should 

 be a forty per cent solution, and a pound used with forty-five 

 gallons of water will treat one hundred bushels of wheat. The 

 wheat should be spread out thin on a tight floor in barn or 

 granary; after being well sprinkled, it should be covered with 

 sacks to prevent too rapid drying. In a few hours it may be 

 uncovered and stirred to assist in drying. The solution should 

 come in contact with every grain. 



Many use the copper sulphate solution with success. One 

 pound of copper sulphate dissolved in two and a half gallons of 

 water is sufficient for ten bushels of wheat. If the wheat is 

 shoveled over and over, the solution will reach each grain, and 

 by keeping it moist for half an hour, the smut germs will be 

 killed. When it is desirable to sow the wheat immediately after 

 treating, lime or dust may be sprinkled on it half an hour after 

 applying the solution, and it may be sown at once. It must be 

 taken into account, however, that soaking swells the grains, and 

 the drill should be set accordingly, and a few quarts more of 

 seed should be allowed per acre. 



The hot water treatment for smut is also successful. The 

 wheat is placed in half filled gunny sacks and immersed in tubs 

 of water of 120 degrees Fahr. When the wheat has been thor- 

 oughly warmed, it is taken out and drained for a few seconds, 

 then immersed in another tub of water at a temperature of from 

 130 to 135 degrees Fahr. It is a good plan to dip the wheat at 

 once in cold water, as it will cool more quickly and the grains will 

 not swell so much. The wheat should then be spread where it 

 will dry quickly. The- general use of these well tested remedies 

 would make the existence of smutty wheat a rare occurrence. 



