PARASITIC FUNGI AND MOULDS. 19 



In 1869, De Taste ascertained that in the parish of 

 Chambray, after the peasants had uprooted all the 

 barberries which grew in the hedges, the harvest, 

 which had been bad in the foregoing year, was 

 gathered in under normal conditions for three suc- 

 cessive years. After the Lyons Railway Company had 

 planted a barberry hedge to fence the railway in the 

 parish of Genlis (Cote-d'Or), the cornfields bordering 

 on the line were attacked by rust in an aggravated 

 form. An inquiry made by the company showed 

 that the disease was due to the barberry, and that 

 where that plant was not found, the wheat was not 

 affected by rust. On the other hand, a single shrub 

 of barberry caused the disease to appear in a field 

 in which it had never occurred before. 



The smut of wheat may be destroyed by the 

 application of quicklime, either dry or dissolved in 

 water, which destroys the fungus or checks its develop- 

 ment. Seed corn should always be subjected to this 

 operation when affected by smut. In default of quick- 

 lime, sulphate of copper is sometimes used, which 

 may be injurious, or sulphate of soda, dissolved in 

 water (eight kilograms to the hectolitre). This should 

 be done the day before the seed is sown. In the case 

 of corn intended for food, another process called pelle- 

 tage must be employed; this consists in the frequent 

 stirring of the granaried corn, either with the hand 

 or with Vallery's movable granary floor, so as to dry 

 and aerate it, and expel the dust and damp, which are 

 favourable to the development of fungi. 



