26 CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



found all the success I ever had from using poisons ; in- 

 deed, I may say much more, for in this way all that was 

 obnoxious was more easily got rid of. 



" It is idle to suppose that any mineral poison can be 

 destructive of uredo, which is known to have a vegetable 

 growth with the grain, and yet be innocuous to the seed 

 corn, the germ of life being the same in both. 



" I believe the practice of poisoning bread corn is one 

 that greatly calls for repression. The practice of washing 

 and drying wheat after it has been prepared for seed, and 

 then throwing it into the bulk for market, your readers will 

 see is not unlikely to often occur, and who can tell what 

 mischief may not spring from allowing arsenic to be used 

 for such purposes 1 " 



The following from "Sell's Weekly Messenger:" 



" The Eev. T. W. Booth, Vicar of Friskney, in the county 

 of Lincoln, has written a letter to the Times, which is cal- 

 culated to convey the impression that the custom of farmers 

 in using arsenic for their seed-wheat is dangerous, perhaps 

 malicious. The Eev. gentleman states that he has known 

 crows and game to have been poisoned by it, and recom- 

 mends swimming the seed-wheat instead. The object of 

 farmers in using arsenic is, of course, to prevent smuts, and 

 though there are numerous specifics recommended for the 

 same purpose, arsenic is found to be the surest preventive. 

 The writer of this has for 30 years used arsenic for seed- 

 wheat, at the rate of 1 Ib. dissolved in as much water as 

 will saturate three sacks, the wheat being afterwards dried 

 with quick lime ; and during that time there has been no 

 evidence of either crow or partridge having been poisoned. 

 And we see daily proofs of this statement ; for as soon as 

 the drill commences to deposit the seed- wheat in the ground 

 the crows at the same time commence to dig it up again if 

 not carefully tended (and often, in spite of this, much loss 

 is sustained); so that if the seed prepared with arsenic 

 would really poison crows, the dead birds must be seen 

 somewhere. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that 

 a stronger application of arsenic or strychnine would ren- 



