286 DISEASES OF VEGETABLES. 



Its history is obscure ; it not being ascertained 

 whether it be the work of an insect or the seizure 

 of a parasite. The husk of the grain, instead of con- 

 taining healthy farina, is filled with a black stinking 

 powder, rendering the grain unfit for the baker, and 

 often unsaleable. It is not a radical distemper, else 

 all culms and ears from the same seed would be 

 equally affected, which is seldom the case ; plants, and 

 even the same ears, are only partially smutted, which 

 would not happen did the defect originate in the root. 

 The disease exhibits itself in two ways; in one, the 

 husk bursts and the black powder is mostly dispersed 

 by the wind and rain ; in the other the husk remains 

 entire, is cut, carried, and threshed with the bulk, and 

 from which it cannot be separated except by washing 

 in water to float the smut-balls. In this latter state 

 it is dreaded by the farmer, as its presence greatly 

 deteriorates the value of the crop. As a prevention 

 against smut, farmers endeavour to banish it by 

 brining and liming the seed. This is partly, though 

 not entirely, effectual ; but how it operates is unknown. 

 Those who imagine the evil to be a fungus, say the 

 pickling frees the seed from infection ; while others, 

 deeming it an insect, believe the ovse to be destroyed 

 by the salt and quick lime. 



Ergot. This is a disease of the same nature as 

 smut. It is prevalent in rye, and is a great drawback 

 on its value, in places on the continent where this 

 grain is cultivated for bread-corn. Farmers in the 

 south of France attribute its prevalence to a certain 



