11 
may be left in it until germination begins without any serious injury 
being cone. 
M. A. Scovell! soaked wheat in a solution of 10 pounds of copper 
sulphate to 8 gallons of water. All smut was prevented by the treat- 
ment, but no statement is given as to the effect of the treatment on 
germination. 
Kellerman and Swingle’ experimented with numerous fungicides for 
the prevention of wheat smut. They found a 5 per cent solution of 
copper sulphate prevented all smut when the seeds were soaked for 
twenty-four hours. The stand was injured a little, but at harvest the 
yield was two or three times that secured from untreated plats. Soak- 
ing the seed in an 8 per cent solution for twenty-four hours and then 
immersing it for a short time in limewater increased the yield over 
the check plats. 
J. F. Hickman? found that all smut spores were destroyed on wheat 
soaked for ten minutes in a solution of 2 to 12 ounces of copper sul- 
phate in 12 gallons of water. On plats sown with such seed there was 
an increased yield of both grain and straw. 
W.C. Latta*t experimented with a solution of copper sulphate for the 
prevention of loose smut and bunt in wheat. The seed was soaked 
for ten minutes in a solution of 4 ounces of copper sulphate to 1 gallon 
of water. The bunt was prevented, but the smut was not. Germina- 
tion was greatly retarded, and as a consequence the yield was lower 
than in the case of the check plats. 
J. L. Jensen® conducted experiments in Denmark on four fields of 
grain, the seed for which had been soaked in 0.5, 1, and 2 per cent solu- 
tions of copper sulphate. The crop from these fields was entirely free 
from smut. The germination for the three treated lots were 100, 88, 
and 66 per cent, respectively. 
J. Buckman® says that soaking seed in copper solutions will prevent 
the germination not only of the smut spores adhering to the seed, but 
also of all diseased or immature seed, and that seed so treated will pro- 
duce a good crop free from smut. He claims also that perfect selected 
seed will by its rapid growth produce a crop of excellent quality with 
but little smut. 
H. Marshall Ward? recommends the selection of rapidly germinating 
varieties of seed, and not sowing until the temperature has reached 15° 
to 20° C., such a temperature being more conducive to the germina- 
tion of the grain than it is to the germination of the spores. Copper 
1Ky. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 11, p. 14. 
?Kans. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 12. 
3Ohio Sta. Bull., Vol. IV, No. 4. 
4Ind. Sta. Bull. No. 41. 
5>Om Kornsorternes Brand. 
6 Jour. Roy. Agr. Soc., 17, ser. 1, 1856, p. 174. 
7Gard. Chron., 5, ser. 3, 1889, p. 268. 
