lO 
Colorado Agricultural College 
Fig. 6. Smutted heads of common millet. 
nitwork of fungus threads within the growing point of the stem. 
There they grow, keeping pace with the upward growth of the stem. 
Brefeld, in his researches on cereal smuts suggested a possibility 
of blossom infection in the millet smuts, although he obtained nega¬ 
tive results. The occurrence of a small number of diseased grains 
among healthy grains in the head is suggestive of blossom infection, 
altho our experiments indicate such to be of little importance prac¬ 
tically. However, further study on this point will be continued. 
SOURCE OF INFECTION 
The increased prevalence of millet smut in Colorado has come 
about largely thru the continued use of seed from fields containing 
relatively small amounts of smut. Up to the present time, virtually no 
interest has been taken in controlling the smut. (No mention of seed 
treatment in Colorado has been made either thru correspondence or 
thru actual observation of seed treatment.) Naturally, the amounts 
of smut have steadily increased year after year until now the annual 
losses are so important that growers are beginning to take steps to 
control the smut. 
Aside from the presence of smut in the crop itself there is much 
likelihood of infection from related grasses such as the wild Foxtail 
