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 (Céte-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 pedle- 
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 aérate it, and expel the dust and damp, which are 
favourable to the development of fungi. 
