TREATMENT OF STINKING SMUT IN wltEAT. 5 
loose-like condition which the smut is in after the spores 
are formed. In the loose smut the whole head of wheat is 
attacked, the glumes and all parts of the head are turned 
into a mass of smut spores which are often blown away by 
the wind before the grain is cut. 
There are two species of Stinking Smut —Tilletia joe- 
tens which has the smooth spores, and Tilletia tritici which 
has spores with net-like ridges on the outer surface of the 
spore wall. The Stinking Smut obtains its name from its 
disagreeable odor, a small amount of it in the grain spoiling 
the flour. 
THE EXTENT OF INJURY. 
Stinking Smut causes more injury than is generally 
supposed. It has been known ever since the time of the 
early Greeks, but it has only been within the last ten years 
that very much work has been done to find a preventative. 
Investigations made at other Experiment Stations show 
that the loss may be from i per cent to 75 per cent of the 
crop. This loss is not altogether the loss of the grain, but 
what grain is saved can only be ground up for feed, for if it 
contains 15 per cent of smut it is unfit for flour. W. T. 
Swingle says: “There are no accurate statistics as to the 
amount of damage caused by these smuts. In many locali¬ 
ties the loss is very large, and it cannot be doubted that in 
the whole United States it amounts to many million dollars 
annually.” 
By treating the seed every year this loss may be pre¬ 
vented. Smut will not appear unless the spores are plant¬ 
ed, except what occurs on the volunteer grain, which is al¬ 
ready in the field, caused by successive planting to wheat. 
If a crop does not contain smut one year it is not a sign 
that the same wheat sown on the same ground will not be 
diseased the next year, because spores may be brought to 
the seed wheat by the threshing machine, or be carried by 
the wind and lodged on the grain. The only safe rule is to 
treat all seed every year. It is possible to grow a crop for 
several years without having smut, but in localities where it 
is common or where it has been and is partially stamped 
out, the seed should be treated every year. 
METHOD OF TREATMENT. 
Two methods of treatment were used in the experi¬ 
ment, soaking and sprinkling. The grain that was sprinkled 
was spread on a floor and the solution sprinkled on. The 
grain was shoveled over and over until all the kernels were 
