284 



SCHOOL AND HOME GARDENING 



(145, 146, 147, and 148) should be studied before deciding 

 what type or size to procure. 



1, Preventing Grain Smut. — Soak a can full of oats for ten 

 minutes in a solution made of one ounce of formalin (formaldehyde) 

 in three gallons of water. Then pour oflf the liquid and dry the 

 grain on a smooth floor. Seed which is thus treated should be 

 planted in a row or small plot in the garden beside a similar area 



planted with seed of the 

 same kind but not treated. 

 As the crops come to head, 

 any differences as to the 

 amount of smut disease 

 shguld be noticed and the 

 proportion of smut, if any, in 

 each case should be deter- 

 mined. This may be done by 

 placing a ring of wire about 

 a number of the plants and 

 counting within the wire how 

 many plants are diseased and 

 how many are not. Figure 

 the percentage in each case. 



Grain smut is of several 

 kinds. The commonest 

 form in oats appears in col- 

 lections of black masses of 

 spores on the heads before 

 the grain is ripe (Fig. 

 149). This greatly re- 

 duces the yield of grain and affects the value of the grain 

 produced. The treatment given in this exercise is simple and 

 inexpensive. It usually prevents nearly all of the disease in 

 the following crop. Stinking smut- of wheat is a serious dis- 

 ease. Smut disease of any kind in the small grains may be 

 preve^ted by the treatment of seed as given in this exercise. 

 This method does not prevent the smut in corn. 



2. Preventing Potato Scab. — Make a solution of formalin by 

 placing one ounce of formalin (formaldehyde) in two gallons of 



FiQ. 145. — A type of sprayer called 

 "atomizer," suitable for both young and old 

 if the garden is not large. 



