THE V SA V. 



241 



are red, or black with a reddish border, As the spots 

 increase in size, the centers become light brown or 

 even grayish. The disease is due to the fungus Cera's- 

 pora rpseacola. As a remedy, prune severely and burn all 

 diseased parts. Keep the ground loose and set out in 

 dry airy situations. — Fred'k D. Chester, Del. Expt. 

 Station. 



Corn Smut. — Upon p. 289, American Garden for 

 August, 1889, W. H. Bull states that "my neighbor, a 

 careful observer, says that the smut on sweet corn is pro- 

 duced by the winds that break the stalks at the root 

 when the corn is in the silk. Earlier or later it will not 

 produce the same result." 



Corn smut is a parasitic fungus that usually makes its 

 appearance upon corn about the time of flowering. The 

 stalks may be apparently in a healthy state, growing 

 vigorously and having every indication of thrift. The 

 first mark of disease is the starting of small swellings 

 upon various parts of the plant. They may occur any 

 where between the surface of the ground (the root is 

 never affected) and the tips of the tassel, but oftenest 

 within the ear. 



It was formerly thought that the disease was worse in 

 wet seasons than in dry ones. The past season was ex- 

 ceptionally dry in this section until after the middle of 

 May, the rainfall during March and April being only 1.82 

 in., with none at all in May until the seventeenth. 

 Earliest sweet corn, Cory and Triumph, began to smut 

 with me Soon after the first rains, or as soon as it began 

 to blossom, while that planted later, which had an 

 almost continuous soaking through latter part of May 

 and all of June, was very free from the disease. Other 

 observations have shown that it may be very destruc- 

 tive in exceptionally dry seasons, seasons in which the 

 drought has extended over the entire corn-growing 

 period. 



This fungus is so prevalent at times as to seriously 

 affect the profits of market-gardeners who grow sweet 

 corn, and unless some combfned effort, based upon exact 

 knowledge regarding its habits and method of propa- 

 gation, is made to stamp out the disease, we may expect 

 it to continue and to increase in destructiveness. 



The dry powder that exudes upon the bursting of the 

 epidermis of the swellings above mentioned, as the plant 

 approaches maturity, contains the spores, which are dis- 

 tributed in many ways, and which may perpetuate the 

 disease indefinitely, as it has been ascertained that they 

 will retain vitality for at least two years. 



If the bunches of dry smut are left upon the stalk, 

 or if broken off and thrown upon the ground, the spores 

 will be taken up and scattered by the wind. If thrown 

 into the manure or compost pile, they will germinate 

 and grow, and when the manure is spread where corn is 

 to be planted, will be ready to again seize upon the young 

 plants. Smut should not be fed to cattle because in 

 quantity it is injurious, while it will pass through their 

 intestines without injury to itself, and infect the manure 

 as before. 



Smut does not exist in the seed, but being distributed 



upon the land, in these ways it enters the plant while the 

 latter is young, and grows with its growth, making 

 its fullest development about the time the plant is ready 

 to develop its fruit. Its injurious effect is then most ap- 

 parent, as it draws to itself the nutriment that should go 

 to form the perfect ear and grain. 



Prevention is the only cure for the trouble ; applica- 

 tions to the growing crop cannot reach the seat of the 

 disease. If cut out as soon as it appears, or at any time 

 before it bursts through the covering, while it is yet a 

 damp, slimy mass, the spores will not mature and it 

 may be merely thrown away. If allowed to reach the 

 powdery stage, it should be burned, or buried so deep 

 that the plow can not bring it again to the surface. 



Land infected by it should be cultivated at least two 

 years with other crops, after which probabl)- most of 

 the spores will have perished. 



Corn is not often injured much by the wind ("the 

 stalks broken at the root ") until it has reached a stage of 

 considerable development, that is, until it is high 

 enough to be blown down. This is about the time it is 

 ready to flower, and is the period at which the fungus, if 

 present, will become prominently visible. — James K. 

 Reeve, Ohio. 



Bordeaux Mixture for Apple Scab. — The Depart- 

 ment of Agricul- 

 ture reports that 

 ' N., copper com- 



! pounds, such as 



eau celeste and 

 the ammoniacal 

 \ solution of car- 

 bonate of copper, 

 have been found 

 effective in pre- 

 venting apple 

 . , ' 'fe' scab. This is an 

 ■ . I ^ ip' important step 

 ■^f^ in advance, but 



those who try if, 

 should not use 



the Bordeaux mixture, which stays on too long and dis- 

 figures the apple. The accompanying figure represents 

 the effect it produced on some Ben Davis apples to which 

 it was applied but once. — C. M. W. 



Prairie Soil and Moisture. — It is known that the 

 black soil of the prairies is very rich in humus or nitro- 

 gen, strong in potash, and with a sufficiency of the phos- 

 phates for all common crops, and beside these qualifi- 

 cations it is very finely divided in material substance. 

 With these excellencies, one would think it were an 

 easy matter to propagate plants from cuttings in it, and 

 that other plants with roots, transplanted, would grow 

 off at once. But such is not the case. Success with 

 cuttings is a difficult matter, even in a cool and moist 

 season, and out of the question in droughty summers, 

 while more transplanted young fruit and shade trees 

 die than under almost any soil and circumstances. The 

 explanation is thought to lie in the hygroscopic capacity 



