28 BROOM-CORN CULTURE 
The pile is then covered with cloth or canvas for 
about two hours; the covering is then removed and 
the grain stirred at intervals by shoveling over to 
dry it. It is then ready to plant at any time. 
In handling treated grain do not get it again 
smutted. The shovel, the drill, the grain bags and 
any other portions of floor used should be sterilized 
by use of the formalin solution. The bags may be 
soaked in it for half an hour and the others treated 
by sprinkling. 
If preferred, the bags of grain may be dipped in the 
formalin solution contained in a suitable vessel; 
after thorough immersing the bags should be left in 
the formalin for 10 minutes, then withdrawn, the 
grain allowed to stand 2 hours in the bags and then 
spread to dry on a sterile surface. 
A less convenient method, but just as effective to 
kill smut, is to dip the bags of grain for 1o minutes 
in hot water at a temperature of 133 degrees Fahren- 
heit, then dry on sterilized surface. 
The chinch bug and the plant louse are the prin- 
cipal insect enemies of broom-corn. Crop rotation 
and the cleaning up and burning of all rubbish in the 
fields and fence rows will usually hold these enemies 
in check. 
