218 
Conclusions. —The presence of TJredinece, whose teleutospores germin¬ 
ate immediately after ripening, is not confined to certain families of 
Phanerogams, the Liliacece , Graminece , Cyperacece , and TJmbelliferece be¬ 
ing the only families not represented among their hosts. Their pres¬ 
ence does not seem to depend simply on the presence of host plants, 
but to be correlated with meteorological conditions. They are more 
abundant in high mountains and moist valleys, or on low land by rivers.— 
Effie A. Southworth. 
Kellerman and Swingle. Preliminary Report on Smut in Oats. 
Bulletin 8. Experiment Station, Kansas State Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, 1889. 
There has long been no doubt that wheat may be infected with smut 
by dusting the grain with spores, or by sowing it in soil iu which the 
spores already exist. Consequently since the spores can pass unin¬ 
jured through the intestines of cattle, it becomes a dangerous matter 
to use manure from stock that have had access to straw of smutted 
wheat. Since this is true for wheat, the natural inference is that it 
is also true for oats and barley. This has been questioned, however, 
and in 1888 in an article, already reviewed in this Journal, Mr. J. 
L. Jensen gave very conclusive proof that grains still included in 
the husks at the time of planting could not be infected by spores 
which came in contact merely with the exterior of the husks, and 
consequently that spores in the manure or in the soil could have no 
effect on the amount of smut in the crop. 
In the Bulletin above mentioned Professor Kellerman and his assist¬ 
ant, Mr. W. T 1 . Swingle, give a full account of further conclusive ex- 
periments in the same direction. They have also included in their 
experiments a comparison of the value of sulphur and iron compounds 
against hot water as a dressing for seed grain. 
An experiment to artificially infect oats when in blossom failed, but 
other experiments clearly established that the spores must be in or 
sticking to the seed when planted. Experiments in planting seed 
treated in different ways in untreated soil and soil which had been artifi- 
cally manured, or smutted, or both, gave the following results: Soak¬ 
ing the seed in a solution of iron sulphate (1J pounds per gallon) did 
not materially decrease the amount of smut or injure the grain; soaking 
the seed in copper sulphate solution (4 ounces to 1 gallon) eighteen 
hours prevented smut but lessened the fertility of the seed; treating 
seed with hot water (132° F.) for fifteen minutes prevented smut and im¬ 
proved rather than diminished the germinating powers of the seed and 
vigor of the plants; soil which had been treated with manure and smut 
the previous August actually gave a less per cent, of smut than un¬ 
treated soil; soaking the seed eighteen hours in a 5 per cent, solution 
of concentrated lye prevented smut, but injured the seed; soaking 
eighteen hours in a 3 per cent, solution of sulphuric acid did not pre- 
