18 



will the disease of the celery carry over the winter in the land 

 that is outdoors? I would like to get some opinions on this 

 question. It seems to me the best we can do with that stuff 

 is to plow it in. We pay money for refuse straw that has been 

 used as litter under a horse, and I can't see any difference in 

 that and good healthy celery, or with some few spots on it, 

 carrot tops or beet tops, or anything of that kind. 



Mr. Trull. I was in Lawrence only a short time ago, 

 and a druggist said to me, "What are you farmers all buying 

 so much formaldehyde for?" I said, "I don't know; is that a 

 fact?" "Yes," he said. I told him what I wanted of it. Now, 

 can you tell me how we should use it and what it is good for? 



Professor Johnson. Formaldehyde is used for several things 

 by the farmer. It is especially used in treating potatoes that 

 have scab for the prevention of the spread of the scab in pota- 

 toes another year. It is also used by the farmers of the west 

 in treating wheat for smut. It is used in treating a number of 

 seeds to cleanse them of germs of disease that may be carried 

 over on the seed. 



Question. Tell us, please, how you treat them. 



Professor Johnson. In treating wheat we usually make a 

 solution of 1 pint of formaldehyde to 30 gallons of water, and 

 then spread the wheat down on a canvas and spread it out so 

 that it is a few inches thick, and moisten it with this solution, 

 — the water and the formaldehyde solution, — and allow it to 

 stand a little while before the wheat is sown. In treating pota- 

 toes we make a solution of 1 pint of formaldehyde to 30 gallons 

 of water, and dip the potatoes into that solution for two hours, 

 take them out, allow them to drain and dry, and then go out 

 and plant them. 



Question. Will you tell us what kind of formaldehyde to 

 ask for when you go to the store to buy it? In one case I sent 

 a man to a store to get it and he got something else. 



Professor Johnson. We use 40 per cent commercial. What 

 is the price of it here? I know what we pay for it in hundred- 

 pound carboys. 



A Voice. About 20 or 25 cents a pound. They charge 75 

 cents for a pound of chemically pure. 



Professor Johnson. A person ought to buy the material in 



