254 



PRODUCTIVE FARMING 



called grain smut, for it causes the black appearance, like 



stove soot, on the heads of grain. Oats and barley are often 



very badly injured by this disease. 



Any farmer can prevent his grain from having the disease 



by a very simple and cheap process. The seed should be 



treated in a liquid before it 

 is planted. The liquid used 

 is formalin and water. If 

 into a common barrel are 

 poured twenty gallons of 

 water and then one half- 

 pint of strong formalin is 

 thoroughly mixed with it, 

 the liquid will be ready for 

 use. The seed grain is placed 

 in a loose sack and then 

 lowered into the barrel of 

 liquid; after about ten min- 

 utes all of the black smut or 

 spores in the seed will be 

 killed. The sack is then 

 raised up and allowed to 

 drain for a few minutes. 

 The wet seed is then spread 

 out to dry before it is 

 planted. This drying may 

 be done on a clean barn 

 floor, in a wagon-box, or on 

 a cloth stack-cover spread 



on the ground. The seed should be spread out thin enough 



so that it will dry before it begins to sprout. 



'The same liquid may be used for many sacks of seed, 



so that the cost of treating enough seed for a large field is 



not great. 



EXERCISE. Treating Oats for Smut. It is suggested that 



FIG. 148. Loose smut of oats mounted 

 on cotton under glass. (A. E.) 



