SM U 



SMU 



commendation of it, that it will 

 equally secure the seed against 

 birds, and against every kind of in- 

 sects. Nor need any one he ap- 

 prehensive that a poisonous taint 

 will be communicated to the crop. 

 The following observations are 

 principally abridged from the 

 "Code of Agriculture" Steep- 

 ing and washing seed wheat, as a 

 remedy for smut, is an excellent 

 practice. When the wheat seed 

 is fir^t put into any liquid, to run 

 it very gently through a riddle, 

 when not only the smut balls, but 

 the imperfect grains, and the seeds 

 of weeds will float, and may be 

 skimmed off at pleasure, which is 

 not the case when the seed is put 

 hastily into the water. Pure cold 

 water and lime may be effectual, 

 provided the seed be washed in 

 several waters, repeatedly chang- 

 ed, until it be perfectly clean, and 

 then dried by quicklime, slacked 

 either with sea or with boiling 

 water. He recommends salt water 

 as being more effectual than even 

 boiling water and lime. The wa- 

 ter should be so impregnated with 

 salt that an egg will float in it, or 

 if sea water with such a quantity 

 of salt dissolved in it, as to be 

 equally strong, by which its spe- 

 cific gravity will be so increased 

 that all unsound grains will swim 

 in the pickle. About a bushel of 

 wheat at a time is put into a suffi- 

 cient quantity of this pickle, in 

 which, when stirred, all the light 

 or diseased grains will rise to the 

 top, and may be skimmed off. 

 The seed wheat is then separated 

 from the pickle, spread upon the 

 floor, and a sufHcient quantity of 



new slacked lime to dry the whole 

 sifted upon it. 



The following receipt is likewise 

 from the same author. Dissolve 

 three ounces of blue vitriol in three 

 English gallons of water, (wine 

 measure) for every three bushels 

 of grain to be prepared. Let the 

 liquid be put into a vessel capable 

 of holding from sixty to eighty gal- 

 lons, in such a quantity that when 

 three or four Winchester bushels 

 of wheat shall be poured into the 

 prepared liquor, it will rise five or 

 six inches above the corn. The 

 grain should be frequently stirred, 

 and all that swims above the sur- 

 face carefully removed. After the 

 wheat has remained half an hour 

 in the preparation, it should be 

 taken out of the vessel and thrown 

 into a basket, which shall allow the 

 water, but not the grain, to escape. 

 It should then be immediately 

 washed in rain, or pure water, 

 which prevents any risk of injuring 

 the grain. The seed ought after- 

 wards to be dried, either with or 

 without lime, before it is sown. 

 It is proper to observe, that the 

 grain should not be put into the 

 prepared liquor, unless it has 

 been well dressed, and is thorough- 

 ly dry. It may be kept without 

 injury. 



The following miscellaneous par- 

 ticulars respecting smut, and the 

 means of preventing it, merit at- 

 tention. 



1. The same water should ne- 

 ver be used but once in washing 

 wheat; even when brine is em- 

 ployed, it is safest to have fresh 

 liquor to each parcel. 2. Lime 

 is not only of service to dry the 



