SMUT 



215 



tion, and spraying will enable potato growers to control 

 this blight. 



159. Smut is a fungus that attacks such grains as oats, 

 wheat, barley, and corn, producing upon them a foul- 

 smelling, black powder, 

 which is a mass of spores. 

 On corn, smut begins to 

 appear when the plant 

 is half grown. At first 

 it forms small, whitish, 

 wrinkled spots on the 

 surface of the leaves. 

 Later, pustules, or small 

 swellings, may begin to 

 show on the tassel and 

 ears. These develop 

 into large growths with 

 a soft, silvery luster. 

 When mature, these 

 growths break open and 

 discharge millions of 

 black spores, which 

 spread the disease. 



While the losses due 

 to diseases are difficult 

 to estimate properly, ex- 

 perts claim that corn 

 smut causes a loss of 

 12,000,000 annually in 

 the United States. The 

 loss from oat smut is 



,\\ 



CLEAN AND SMUTTED OATS. 



placed at $18,000,000 



yearly. The amount of damage done to the other grains 



is very large. Much attention, therefore, has been given 



