Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1853-06-09
Farmers Column.
From the Prairie Farmer.
SHUT IN WHEAT.

lne suolecf OF smut In wheat does
not seem TO be understood as yet. Mr..
j. I'll. Claypoole, of Lee CO. Iowa, gives
us his experience during three years,
with field of wheat. Cfthe first crop,
the seed was washed in brine. Ii grew
very rank, land when in bloom wet wealth
er set in. That which grew rankest
was most foul with smut The two fol-
lowing years he sowed dry, and the
straw grew lighter--tbe frs. year pro.
ducing some smut, and the second very
!is,e-the season being dry, while the
berry was forming. Mr.. Claypooie's
experiments show one thing very dis
tinctly; that wet weather, or damp
state of the ground while the kernel was
growing and ripening, favored the growth
of the smut, while dry weather operated
precisely in the other direction. Mr.. c..
concludes as follows:
81 have been told by one of your sub.
scrlbers, pretty extensive and good far
mer, and smart man too, that to carry
smutty wheat in sack, and afterwards
put good wheat in the same sack, and
SOW the wheat, il would bring smutty
wheat, or put good wheat in smut.y
granary, il would 60 the same, or thresh
clean wheat on a machine after smutty
wheat, il would do so likewise. Not
withstandlng, my opinion is, that smut
in wheat is the same as smut in corn, &
who ever thought of the like of smut in
corn growing! | do not believe that
smut of any kind will grow, but believe
that i, will be abundant or scarce, accord
ing 10 the season at the time OF ripening."
Our opinion of the smut is this: that
1t is fungus, growing upon the ker-
mel of the wheat as its soil, and con.
suming its nourishneni, corrupting its
life and taking possession of its place;
so that when the time of ripening of the
grain comes, you find in its room only
The foul usurper which has crowded out
the lawful occupant and filled its habita-
ton with its own disgusting carcase. So
far all is plain. But how Goes the thing
get there' Why, precisely as every
other thing of vegetable growth gets any
where; it grotDs there. Bur from what
does it grow? From its own seeds, and
from nothing else Every fungus has
It's seeds, commonly called sporules.
which float about in the air or adhere to
other substances, and are carried about
from place to place until they find their
fit chance for vegetation and growth
Nobody ever saw with his naked eve
the smut seeds, of course; for they are
so small that if one had as many eyes as
Argus, and each with as many sides as
those of the house fly, he could never
get sight of one. Nevertheless, they are
plenty as the dust of a summers day,
adhering to the bags, cribs, bins, straw,
or whatever else the wheat touches, and
fastening themselves particularly on the
calyx end OF the wheat kernel, among
the little tuft of down with which il is
furnished; and which, perhaps, is capa-
bic of holding hundred or thousand of
them. They are thus sown with the
seed, and infect the crop by process all
the particulars of which are not known.
That IL, it is not known precisely how
the fungus is transmitted hom the old
seed to the new; but of the fact there is
no doubt whatever. II is probable ,ha.
it is carried in the sap vessels along with
the circulation.
Now what is true of all crops will be
true of this crop of smut. Sometimes
there will be a large quantity of It's seed
in a field, while there will be but little of
it produced in the crop; and sometimes
bu: small amount of its seeds will pro.
duce large crop, on account of the IA
vorable or untaverable circumstance al.
tending it. In general i, may be said
that wet, unventilated state OF things
is favorable to the growth of this and all
other varieties of fungus; bu: il is true
that il will sometimes grow in dry sea-
sons. Our correspondent seeems to
think that washes of brine or the like are
of no avail; but it has been proved be-
.yond question that they are; and if in this
instance there was failure, the cause
must be looked for in some circumstance
es peculiar to the case. Salt is a terrible
enemy of all the fungi; ii devours their
substance and deprives them of life
A suitable washing in brine, with other
things favorable. is a good preventive of
smut. Sometimes, however, the land
as well as the grain becomes infected,
and II will be necessary TO SOW il with
salt, or to discontinue wheat upon il.