St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-03-20
HOW TO ERADICATE SMUT.
Correspondent Objects To Methods
Advised by Elevator Men.

useu TO be engaged in dressing seeds espe-
clally seed wheat, for the purpose of killing
sinking smut, and have lately written sew
eral letters to the papers on the subject, | am
requested to state what | think of a circular
gotten up by Mr.. Boley and distributed by
the thousands amongst the Northwest farm
ers by the elevator companies; and what l
think of these gentlemen distributing such
circular, after having promised to render real
ana substantial support towards the destruc-
ton OF this awful disease. 1t gives me great
pleasure to comply with these requests In
deed, it would be shame for any one to re-
main silent, II he can throw any light the
subject; especially now. as the farmers are
being fooled by being offered a remedy as
pad or worse than the disease. Now, | am not
gong to pit my eXperience-the practical eX-
perience | gained in the nearly thirty years I
devoted to this work-against Mr. Bolley's
theory or any other theory: no. but by COM
pairing notes and sitting the whole matter
/ may we not hope to come to right conclusions?
That this smut question is a serious matter
everybody seems willing to admit. Wheat
containing more or less smut having been
seeded, year after year, the threshers, gran
aries, elevators. drills, sacks-everything al
most nave become contaminated with these
pernlclous smut spores. This disease being of
long standing, the treatment must be thor
ough; must be radical. | therefore quite
agree with Mr. Bolley when he says, Every
slaln must be made wet all over" | have
tried every conceivable device for the ac-
complishment of this, but never found any
thing so handy and easy to manage as box
with perforated bottom. farmer can't
Now here, | am sorry to saw Mr.. Bolley
ana myself must part company. This gen.
tleman says that solution of copper sulphate
/! Is ooth eHectual and satisfactory. | say
that since smut has got such a hold as 1t
has here in the Northwest the solution to
be etfectual. must be stronger by far than
that recommended by Mr.. Boley, and that
II enough sulphate of copper is used to kill
the inbred smut-germs, much of the wheat
will be damaged. and the crop will suffer.
VIII only raise one other objection. but
this is most serious and is just what has i'll
duced me TO write this letter. Don't wait
for the treated grain to get dry, shovel it up
and proceed to seed it, says Mr.. Bolley.
This being so contrary to my experience
to anything | had heard Of in fact-I
decided at once to thoroughly sift the mat
ter. and find out what the drll-makers and
others think of this piece of advice. Ha7
ing seen every kind of seeder not one of
| which would | trust to SOW damp grain. ]
! either wrote to- or called upon, the prin-
| cipal dril-makers and their agents to learn
! their'opinions. They all consider it would be
very unwise of the farmers to try to seed
| grain when damp. OF course they are aware
that if you put a small quantity of damp
! wheat into almost any seeder il will work
| through all right, but it would be after you
have dumped in bushel after bushel, and
! the machine becomes wet and clammy, that
! the trouble would arise. The David Brad
/ ley company, Deere & Webbert. Dean g.
/ Co.. and lots of others, say that they never
had such question put to them before, and
most of them add, we do mot think that
any machine could be depended upon TO SOW
wet grain besides, why ask the farmers to
! run such risk. when properly dressed grain
will dry so quckly?" The reply | received
from the St. Paul Implement company
/ braces nearly all great many others had
/ to say the subject. I'VE think the farm
ers would be expecting entirely too much
| of machine, if they expect it to seed such
grain thoroughly, and without cloggng up
| the feed cups tubes, wrote this reliable
firm. The owatonna Manufacturing COM
pany, after Saying they would not guaranty
| their machines to do such work, suggested
! that farmers be asked to report on the mat
| ter. well the manufacturers. This is
| practical suggestion, but, bless my heart,
| farmers by the hundreds have reported, and
every one of them recommends sowing seeds
| and grain dry as possible. The best
| and most reliable English farmers who have
to grow big crops to pay their high rents.
| give this advice: Secure the right kind OF
every grain wet, dry quickly, then SOW Re-
! suits: Certain growth, increase in yield, bet
| ter quality, no smut.
When am asked why stated so positively
| in my letters to the papers that the elevator
people are most anxious to help in the de-
| struction of smut, whereas all they do give
is a piece of advice that will surely prove to
be delusion and a snare. l reply: Be
cause the representatives of these companies
seemed to me to be thoroughly alive to
! the evils of smut and declared, again and
again. their determination. cost what it might,
! to help put stop to its ravages. am ais
appointed quite as much as ever the farmers
can be. Still we must not come to the con-
clusion. some have already done, L am
sorry to say that these gentlemen are glad
with the chance to go back on the farmers
because they are raising so many complaints
as to prices grades, dockage. etc. why. II
that were So it would certainly be one of the
meanest and most diabolical acts ever per-
petrated against number of innocent men.
The fact is they have allowed themselves to
be deceived. If drying dressed grain Is of
no consequence. why are so many recon-
mending the of quick lime. lime water.
wood ashes, puverized clay dry soil, and
all the rest of it? The remedy being so SIM
pie and the cost and labor almost nothing.
every farmer should learn how to kill his
deadliest enemy-smut. Yours, etc.
Charles Harvey,
Al South Tenth street.
Minneapolis Mimi, March IS, 1896.