Cleaned, Treated and Tested Seed 
25 
threshing, the smutted berries are broken open and the powdery 
spores scattered. They lodge on healthy grains where they remain. 
The spores are sown with the grain and the young wheat plant becomes 
infected in a very early stage. The smut does much damage, not only 
in reducing the yield, but badly smutted wheat loses grade on the 
market and is docked because it cannot be used for milling purposes. 
Stinking smut affects both fall and spring wheats, but fortunately 
cannot affect any other cereal. 
Control: The smut can best be exterminated by disinfecting the 
seed, the principle being to kill the spores adhering to the grain with¬ 
out injuring the seed itself. If the seed is badly smutted, it is advis¬ 
able to run it first through a fanning mill and then treat it. 
Solution required: One pound of formalin of guaranteed 40% 
strength. Mix this with 40 to 45 gallons of water. 
Application to grain: Two methods may be used —steeping 
method or sprinkling method. 
Steeping Method: 
1. Secure a wooden barrel or tank of convenient size and put in 
enough of the above-mentioned solution to allow the immersion of a 
sack of grain. 
2. The solution must completely cover the sack of grain. 
3. Lift the sack several times up and down in the solution until 
the bubbles of air stop coming to the surface. 
4. Allow the grain to remain in the solution for exactly 10 min¬ 
utes, but not for a longer or shorter period. 
5. Kemove the sack and allow to drain back into the barrel. 
6. Set away in wet sacks for 2 hours, or empty in a heap and 
cover with canvas or wet sacks. 
7. At the end of two hours, dry the seed by spreading it out 
on a clean floor. 
8. The solution should be replenished as often as needed. The 
dipping may be facilitated by using block and tackle to hoist the 
sacks. 
Sprinkle Method: (Fig. 8) 
1. Use a clean floor or wagon bed or canvas in the open. A 
few bushels of grain should be spread a few inches deep upon the 
floor and sprinkled with the above mentioned formalin solution. 
2. Sprinkle the solution over the grain with ordinary garden 
sprinkling can. Use about one gallon of solution to each bushel of 
grain. By all means use enough to thoroughly wet the kernels. 
3. Then the gram should be well shoveled. A thorough mix¬ 
ing while the solution is being applied will insure contact of the 
solution with the grain which is necessary to make the treatment 
