On Smut in Wheat, 77 



same plant ; he observes that wheat seized with mildew, 

 is only fit food for swine or poultry; and that on ex- 

 amining a mildewed ear with a iens, the appearances did 

 not so fully convince him of its being a fungus, as the 

 other species did ; however he seems inclined to believe 

 it is one, because Abbe Tessier, who had expressly 

 written on the subject, asserts, that the mildew is a very 

 minute lycoperdon, or puff ball, and Sir J. Banks who 

 has lately seen clusters of a mushroom plant on mil- 

 dewed grain, seems to confirm the opinion. 



Upon the whole then, it would appear that the blight, 

 or mildew is the most destructive species of recticula- 

 ria frumenti; and Mr. Kirby very justly laments, that 

 some method has not yet been found out, to prevent this 

 blight, as effectually as that, which has long been in use 

 amongst farmers, to secure their crops from the smut, 

 — meaning slacked lime. 



There is yet another species of blight, entirely dis- 

 tinct from any of the preceding maladies, mentioned by 

 Mr. Kirby, namely that which proceeds from the nu- 

 merous race of Aphides, which cause great ravages 

 among fruit trees, and are now known to produce the 

 honey dev/, often visible on the leaves of trees, in a warm 

 season ; but this is too remote from our present subject, 

 and would merit a separate discussion. 



Mr. Kirby proceeds to enumerate sundry steeps for 

 seed grain, as alkaline lixivia, common salt, vegetable 

 and mineral acids Sec. and concludes that slacked lime 

 is the most efficacious, but acknowledges that lime is 

 dangerous, especially when slacked in the air, and that 

 a farmer by using it, sustained a loss of 300 pounds ster- 

 ling. — Here it may be doubted whether the remedy v as 



