THE WHEAT CULTCEIST. 



409 



Belves to the minrLte hairs that are usually seen with the 

 naked eye on kernels of wheat. ]\Iachinery will sel- 

 dom remove these spores. Therefore, their removal 

 must be effected by soaking the grain, and applying 

 some chemical snbstance, that will decompose the spor- 

 nles, without injuring the germs of the kernels of wheat. 

 Those spores adhering to the sound grains at the time 

 of sowing, remain in that state, till the young plant 

 starts its growth, when they are supposed to enter the 

 spongioles of the roots of the young plant ; and, with 

 the ascending sap, are propelled through the tissues of 

 the plant, till they reach the young ovum, where they 

 find a suitable place for vegetation, rendering fecunda- 

 tion impossible. Yet the grains continue to swell ; and 

 when harvest conies, they are perhaps larger than the 

 healthy ones ; and curiously enough, the stigmata of the 

 flowers are not destroyed. 



PiCKLiN'G Seed Wheat. 



In this important operation the science of chemistry 

 affords the practical wheat-grower important aid. We 

 have seen, on the two preceding pages, how smut or 

 " bunt " is propagated. The object now is to destroy 

 it. The basis of all pickling or dressing consists in 

 converting the greasy, oily sporules which adhere to the 

 sound grains into a soap, which facilitates their removal. 



Sulphate of copper (blue vitriol) is sometimes em- 

 ployed for pickling wheat, in the following manner: 

 Four pounds of the vitriol should be dissolved in about 

 two gallons of boiling water ; and when fully dissolved, 

 placed in a large tub — an old hogshead cut through the 

 middle answers the purpose very well ; and add about 



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