21 



sack pump, be it ever so serviceable, at $21 or even $18, is entirely be- 

 yond the reach of the average farmer, gardener, and fruit-grower. Con- 

 sequently he has to rely upon inferior machines, and, as a result, his 

 treatments are frequently unsuccessful for the simple reason that the 

 remedies are not properly applied. 



We have had the matter of providing a cheap and serviceable knap- 

 sack pump under consideration for some time, and can now positively 

 announce that the machine will be on the market in a few weeks. The 

 pumps will be made in two or three styles, and as there will be no pat- 

 ent on them we hope manufacturers throughout the country will be able 

 to oflfer them at about $12, thus placing them within the reach of all 



PREVENTION OF SMUT IN OATS AND OTHER CEREALS. 



By W. a. Kelleeman and W. T. SwiNaLE. 



The smuts of oats aud other plants are minute vegetable parasites. 

 They appropriate for their use the nourishment which the infected 

 plant prepared for its own development, aud in this way reduce its 

 vitality or completely destroy the part attacked. The dark-colored 

 powdery mass popularly called the smut is merely the mature fruit of 

 the parasite, and consists of exceedingly minute reproductive bodies 

 called spores. These, when subjected to proper conditions, germinate 

 by sending out a slender tube upon which small sporidia appear. 



The smut arrives at maturity in case of oats when the latter are in 

 bloom, and the spores, blown hither and thither, find their way into the 

 flowers. The husks soon close over the young grain, and the spores 

 which may have been thereby imprisoned remain dormant until the 

 seed is planted in spring. The warmth and moisture cause the spores 

 and the oats to germinate simultaneously. The slender tubes emitted 

 by the spores now penetrate the delicate oat plants. Thereafter the 

 smut plant grows concealed within its host until they both approach 

 maturity. At this time the smut spores rapidly develop in the abor- 

 tive head of oats and the black mass of smut becomes conspicuous. 



It is sometimes claimed that smut in the soil, or in manure applied 

 to the soil, will infect the young oat plants. This is certainly not the 

 usual mode of infection and it may be doubted whether it ever occurs. 



If the spores inclosed in the husks of the grain can be killed without 

 injuring the seed, the smut can be perfectly prevented in the crop. 

 This has usually been accomplished by soaking the seed in a solution 

 of blue vitriol (copper sulphate). This process though destroying all 

 or nearly all the smut, also injures the seed more or less. The hot- 

 water method of Professor Jensen has proven thoroughly effectual in 

 preventing smut and, besides, is not in the least injurious to the seed. 

 In fact, both our own and Jensen's experiments show yields greater 

 than would be expected from the mere prevention of the smut. We 



