New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1886-03-03

luton of blue vitriol, or as some call ii,
blue-stone. The ways to do it are va
rious. The following has proved per-
fectly reliable, viz: Dissolve one or
two pounds (there is no danger of get.
ting the solution too strong) of blue vi
triol to each gallon of water. You
must judge as to how many gallons of
this solution you will require for the
amount of seed you intend to sow.
Probably one gallon will wet four BUSH
els of seed. Put the seed wheat into
coarse bags, about fifty or sixty pounds
to the bag; tie them at the top so that
the wheat will lie loosely in them; i'm
merse them in this pickle and let them
lie from five to ten minutes, turning
the bags over q few times to be sure
that the wheat has become thoroughly
wet. Then lift them out aDd let the
pickle drain back into the vessel that
contains the solution. The wheat will
very soon be in condition to SOW. 1t
does not require to be spread out to
dry, as the wheat will absorb the mois.
ture very quickly.
Below is an extract from q letter re-
ceived from the Hon. Horace Davis,
member of Congress from San Francis
co and the largest miller on the Pacific
Slope. in answer to inquiries on the
subject of smut in wheat in his State:
sin reply to yours of the 10th. In
smutty wheat but have none now owing
to the use of blue-stone on the seed BY
the farmers. have seen fields where
part of the seed was treated with blue.
stone and part not, and the difference
was as plain as between a field of bar
ley and one of oats; it is hard to give
any exact rule as to its application; the
most practical farmers tell me they use
six pounds to each ton of seed wheat.
1t is dissolved in water enough to wet
this quantity of wheat, and the wheat
IS put in bags, say fifty to sixty pounds.
and immersed in the solution for six
or seven minutes, just enough to wet
all the wheat. Then it is taken out
and laid on sloping boards at the end
of the trough to drain. The solution
is put into q trough built for this
purpose, something like horse trough.
The bags are turned over frequently in
this solution to insure the wetting Of all
the whit at. You can rely upon it that blue
stone is dead shot for smut in Cali
fornia. BY blue.stone mean sulphate
of copper or blue vitriol.''
1t wheat is sown in old stubble where
there was smut the previous year it
will make its appearance to some ex-
tent. but the second year there will be
no sign of it. In new ground, or in
| fields where wheat has not been raised
Tor two seasons or more there will be
no smut if the seed is. prepared as a.
b0ve. unless it may be- communicated
from neighboring felds.where the seed
has not been treated for the purpose of
killing smut germs. The cost of pre-
pairing the seed for one acre of ground
will not exceed the loss on one bushel
OF smutty wheat.
Below is an extract from letter on
the subject received from Prof. E. w.
Hilgard, University Of California. Col.
legs of Agriculture, Berkeley, CAL:
"As regards the Questioning of seed
| wheat, the solution used is as strong as
it can be made at the ordinary temper
allure. Such q solution contains about
three pounds of blue-stone to five quarts
of water. The time Of immersion varies
somewhat; the most definite prescrip.
ton given is that half sack should
| remain in the saturated solution at least
three minutes, and be turned about
several times in the interval to make
sure of wetting throughly. When
| weaker solution is used, the grain may
| be left with it until it begins to sprout.
The sacks are usually left unopened
until used for sowing. There is no dry
ing done on purpose, unless it is to be
used in the seed drill. 1t will work
perfectly with the centrifugal sower
without drying. In general would be
in favor of the strong solution and short
immersion. The work is then done
quicker, and if the grain is afterward
left in the sack for some hours the APP
plication is sure to be efectual. Again,
the strong solution is more certain to
render the grain distasteful to birds and
insect enemies, and gives margin for
killing fungoid germs round about the
young Seeding. There seems to be
little danger to the vitality of the seed
from the blue.stone. OF course the
blue-stone will not prevent the smut
germs left over in the fields from pre-.
vious seasons from attacking the davel-
oped plant. It simply kills the germ
in the seed that would otherwise devel.
op along with the latter and take the
plant in its early stages. A field that
has been very smutty during the pre-.
vious season will be apt to show some
on the grain Of the next one despite
Questioning, but persistence in the
practice will be sure to put an end to
the fungus germs, save so far as they
may be furnished by kind neighbors
above the wind"
In preparing wheat for seed it has
been the practice of farmers in Europe
to separate carefully the small and i'm