VOLUME LXXIV NUMBER 3 
THE 
BOTANICAL GAZETTE 
November I 922 
PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF EFFECTS OF 
FORMALDEHYDE ON WHEAT: 
W. M. ATwoop 
(WITH TWELVE FIGURES) 
Introduction 
Copper sulphate and formaldehyde have been most commonly 
used as fungicides in the treatment of seed wheat. The choice 
between the two has often been determined by local custom and 
prejudice, while in other cases climatic differences have been thought 
to be worthy of consideration in the selection. During the twenty 
years, approximately, that formaldehyde has been used as a dip 
or spray, as a gas (44, 53) or with steam (39), reports have differed 
radically in the degree of favor with which it has been viewed. 
One group of experimenters has reported injury to germination 
or seedling vitality, or both, following the use of formaldehyde. 
STEPHENS of the Sherman County Branch Experiment Station at 
Moro, Oregon, has consistently reported injury in his station reports 
since 1913 (50). In 1917 he noted that 18.5 per cent of the seed 
wheat was killed. He has made the further important observation 
that in many cases seedlings may progress in development but with 
lessened vegetative vigor. HEALD and Wootman (31) found 
germination reductions at concentrations of 30-40 gallons of water 
* The project on which the present paper is based was financed under the Adams 
Fund, to which acknowledgment is hereby made. 
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