The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1898-03-26
Prevention of Oats Smut.

The smut of oats, which causes an
annual loss to the farmers of Wisconsin
amounting in the aggregate to many
hundreds of thousands of dollars, may
be entirely prevented by treating the
seed oats before sowing, at a cost for
labor and materials which need not eX-
coed five cents per acre OF oats sown.
Two methods of treatment have been
found satisfactory. These we will call
for convenience the Formalin Treat
ment,' and the Hot Water Treat
ment." The first has the advantage of
being the simpler, but it requires
small cash outlay for materials or APP
parattis except what the farmer already
has, unless it be good thermometer.
Tie FOrmaiin Treatment. Soak the
seed oats one hour in a solution of for
main, made by adding one ounce of
formalln to every 3! gallons Of water.
Place the water in a barrel, or other
convenient vessel, add the fornalin to
it. and pour in bushels OF seed oats
for > gallons of tie solution. At the
end Of one hour draw off, or pour off
the part of the solution that is not alb
sorbed by the oats, and spread the
oats out Oh clean floor to dry. They
should be shovcled over once or twice
a day until dry enough to SOW.
Formalin Is a liquid that NAV be nur-
chased at drug stores. Ask for 20 per
cent formalin. 1t costs rom 30 to 60
cents per pint, and a pint contains II
ounces-enough for about so bushels OF
seed oats. 1t is sold in smaller Guant-
, ties at 10 cents per ounce. If fOrmailn
| is purchased in considerable quantities,
ii will be we'll to have the druggist weigh
out one ounce III a small bottle, and
then mark on the bottle the height TO
hclI the ounce reaches. This bottle
| NAV then be used as measure III add
| ing the fornailn to the water.
| The Hot Water Treatment consists in
soaking the seed 10 minutes in water at
| a temperature of 1913 f. heat the water
! in a large kettle, and close by, sink Il
! barrel in the ground to within foot Of
1 the top Pour part Of the hot water in
/ to the barrel, and take the temperature
/ with a good thermometer. Then add
| either cold or hot water, stirring it
mean time, until it shows temperature
OF l3S Put about Il bushel of oats III a
! coarse gunnt sack, tie this to one end
| of pole and rest the pole over post,
! thus making lever by which the sack
! of oats may be easily raised and lowered.
/ Now dip the sack of oats into the water
/ in the barrel. The water will be i'm
mediatelv cooled, and hot water must
/ be added to keep the temperature about
I 1873. Let one person attend to the tenn
/ perature, and another to handling the
! oats. Keep the cats moving in the bar
| rel. Take them out at the end Of ten
! minutes, dip the sack at once in cold
water, then spread on clean floor to
day for few days, when they NAV be
sorn with a force drill: or in two or
three hours they may be Gown broad
/ cast. As the oats absorb considerable
water, il is necessary to SOW about half
6 bushel more per acre than W hen IN
treated seed is used. THIS is on the
basis OF two and one-half bushels per
acre. Two men if one day can treat
enough seed to SOW twenty acres.
Farmers should preserve these direc-
tious for future use.
T. s. Corr.
HOrtictiitGraiis.
Agricultural ESperimce. StEs:cns
ltsjis3Gj Wis.