1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



339 



b;, a solution of copper, that substance not only de- 

 stroys the germination of any smutty powder at- 

 tached to the grain, but likewise prevents its being 

 attacked, through the root, by any other parasiti- 

 cal plant that may be found in the soil, and thus en- 

 ables it to escape other accidents, or disorders to 

 which wheat is liable.* 



The mode of using the blue vitriol, adopted by 

 the gentleman whose name is not disclosed, was 

 as follows: Into eight quarts of boiling water, he 

 puts one pound of blue vitriol; and while it is quite 

 hot, he mixes three bushels of wheat with five 

 quarts of the liquid, and at the end of three hours 

 adds the other three quarts; and the three bushels 

 ' of wheat are suffered to remain three hours long- 

 er, or six hours in all, in the liquid. The whole 

 should be stirred three or four times, during the six 

 hours, and the light grai is may be taken off. Then 

 add a sufficient quantity of slaked lime, to make 

 the wheat perfectly dry. It may remain in a heap 

 for six hours; it may then be spread open, and 

 used the next day, but not sooner. Though it is 

 recommended to be spread six hours after it has 

 been limed and put in a heap, yet there is no risk 

 of its heating, and it may be kept longer than a 

 day, without any risk of injury. 



Mr. Hipkys's mode of preparation is different. 

 After dissolving five pounds of the sulphate in hot 

 water, he then adds as much cold water as may 

 be sufficient to cover three bushels of wheat; which 

 is gradually passed through a riddle in older that 

 all the light grains may swim on the surface, and 

 be skimmed off. After being repeatedly stirred, 

 and cleared of the light, grains, the wheat is suf- 

 fered to remain in the liquid for live or six hours; 

 but it has remained, in one or two instances, from 

 twehe to twenty-four hours, without experiencing 

 any bad effect. It is then taken out, and thrown 

 upon the floor. If it is to be sown broad-cast, 

 it should be crusted with lime in the usual way; 

 but for drilling, it is stirred about until it becomes 

 dry, which it generally does, in dry weather, in 

 five or six hours. When the atmosphere, however, 

 is moist, it will require double that space of time.f 

 It may then be drilled, with as much facility as 

 grain that had not undergone any operation. 



After the first two or three bags, of three bush- 

 els each, have passed through this liquid, one 

 pound of the sulphate should be added, for each 

 succeeding bag, until from ten to twelve bags 

 have been thus used; when a fresh quantity of 

 the preparation should be made ready, in case the 

 liquid should become foul or turbid. 



Either of these modes may be adopted with a 

 certainty of success. 



This plan is surely superior, in point of cleanli- 



* Mr. Hipkys states, that he had a superior crop of 

 wheat, which had been sulphated, and escaped being 

 lodged, while the field of a neighbor, of equal quality, 

 was beaten down, and mildewed. This he attrib- 

 utes to the superior strength of the straw. He is not 

 of opinion, tint the sulphate will prevent the mildew; 

 all that can be expected from steeps is, that through 

 their instrumentality, the plant may be thereby freed 

 from a general aptitude to disease, and by being thus 

 invigorated, it may be the better enabled to withstand 

 those attacks, to which, in a less healthy state, it would 

 be liable. 



t Passing it through a pair of fanners would soon 

 dry it. 



ness at least, to some of the disgusting processes 

 that are frequently recorrfmended for the same pur- 

 pose, and is likewise attended by the following 

 advantages: 1. The expense is trifling, as the 

 price of the vitriol is not, in general, above from 

 sixpence to eightpence or ninepence per pound; 

 and after being used, in the manner above de- 

 scribed, the water may be evaporated, and the re- 

 mains of the sulphate will again crystallise. 2. It 

 is a great advantage, that, with this preparation, 

 liming is not necessary; as lime, more especially 

 recently slaked, cannot always be had, and as the 

 use of lime is so injurious to the drill machines, 

 where brushes are used. 3. It is well known, 

 that after wheat has been steeped in other modes, 

 it has been lost by keeping; whereas, when pre- 

 pared by the sulphate, it may remain unsown for 

 any length of time without injury;* and, 4. The 

 plant is thereby so strengthened, that it is less liable 

 to be lodged, or to suffer from other disorders; and 

 thou 'h it does not prevent the rust or mildew, yet 

 for tua smut, when properly applied, it is an infal- 

 lible antidote. 



In order to do justice to 1 he application, the grain 

 should be perfectly dry, when the solution of cop- 

 per is applied. The germination of the smut plant 

 will then be effectually prevented, without injuring 

 the vegetative powers of the wheat. 



It may be proper to add, that M. Prevost's dis- 

 covery was, in a great measure, accidental; and 

 that the utility of preparations from copper has 

 long been known in Flanders. The method has 

 also been successfully employed by Mr. Joseph 

 Butler of Ivillamarsh in Derbyshire.! Mr. Brown- 

 rigg in the county of Wicklow in Ireland, like- 

 wise uses vitriol, and with success.J 



On this interesting subject, M. Desmazieres of 

 Lisle, who has paid peculiar attention to the dis- 

 eases of wheat, states in a recent communication 

 to the author, that the Microscopic fungus which 

 produces smut, (urcdo caries,) attacks only the 

 grain, which is entirely filled with it, and the pow- 

 der, which was spread only in a very small degree 

 befb.re, remains in the grain when gathered and 

 thrashed. Some means must be found, for de- 

 stroying this contagious fungus, and this has been 

 effectually brought about, by the various opera- 

 tions commonly made use of. How comes it then, 

 it may be asked, that a field, where seed has been 

 well prepared, should sometimes yield smutty 

 plants? To this question it may be answered, that 

 the seeds of rottenness, like those of smut, may 

 be more or less scattered over the surface of the 

 earth, at the very moment that the crop is cut 

 down. Hence it follows, if we wish to obtain a 



* It would be a good plan, for seedsmen to prepare 

 the seed wheat before they send it to their customers. 

 Sulphated seed has been kept uninjured, in small 

 quantities, from the 2d of November to the 24th of 

 December. 



t See Derbyshire Report, vol. ii. p. 116. He mixed 

 two pounds of blue vitriol, in as much chamber-ley, 

 as would wet twelve bushels of wheat, and after soak- 

 ing, dried the wheat in quicklime. 



% Report of the county of Wicklow, by the Rev. 

 Thomas Radcliff, p. 256. Mr. Brownrigg dissolved 

 only a quarter of a pound of Roman vitriol, in warm 

 water, and mixed it with one barrel of sea-water, 

 strengthened with a stone of salt. 



