Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-02-18
F0RMALlN F0R Smut.
Chemist Bolley Of the State Agricul'
tural College Discovers Another
Smut Remedy.
Solution of Formalin Applied to
Smutted Grain Will Do the Re
quired Work.
Tests of a Successful Nature Have
Been Made by the Experiment
Station at Fargo.

Station at Fargo.
EDITOR TRIBUNE: The director of
the experiment station and the depart
ment of botany are receiving a good
number of letters from farmers concern
ing the new treatment.which has been
developed at this station for the proven.
ton of smuts of cereal grains. Farmers
are especially interested in the easiest
methods of preventing the appearance
of the smut of oats. That grain is so
generally diseased by loose or flying
smut in this state that a very large per
cent of the crop is actually lost. While
the disease seems to do no damage from
the standpoint of being injurious to
stock, and as after threshing all grains
found in the bin are otherwise normal
in appearance, it is quite usually sup
posed by farmers that the smut of the
oats .does very little damage. Now and
then however, it becomes very much
more evident. When the seed has once
become badly infested by the spores of
the fungus, 1t is a common thing
to find that a very large percentage of
all the heads in the field are completely
smutted and destroyed. In my own in
vestigation of many fields, I have found
that it is not uncommon that
as high as twenty and eve forty
per cent of the heads of grain
actually developed turn into smut be-
fore harvest time.
People who have been in the habit of
treating oats with copper sulphate have
invariably injured their yield very con-
siderably, because in order to thorough
ly soak the grain so that these inclosed
spores may be killed the copper solution
comes in direct contact with the soft
grain of the oat, and the terminating
power of the grain is injured by the
poison. Since I ascertained the cause
of this trouble by a great number of
carefully conducted termination tests,
1 have been attempting to find some sub
stance which would kill the smut
spores, and still not be detrimental to the
terminating power Of the grains of the
oat. This substance was announced in
Bulletin No. 81 of this section. It is a
liquid sold in the market under the
name of formalin. Formalin is a forty
per cent solution of Formaldehyde. By
a large number of laboratory tests and
field tests I have ascertained that this
substance when properly applied will
disinfect wheat. oats and barley, so as
to prevent the appearance of smut, and
even increase the yield of grain, germin-
alton being improved rather than in
iured.
Our bulletins do not reach all the
farmers of this state. They are per-
fectly free to every farmer who will
send his name to any member of the
station staff, stating that he desires to
have the bulletin sent to his address,
but as a great number of them, never
theless, do not see u publications, 1
wish to append to this article the
formula and method of the treatment of
grain of the formalin method.
Make up a solution using at the rate
of n pound of formalin to fifty gallons
of water. Pile the grain upon the barn
floor and sprinkle the pile thoroughly
with the solution, shovel the grain over
thoroughly aud sprinkle again, and
and shovel over again and sprinkle
again, so that in the process you may
see that every grain is Thoroughly wet.
If wheat is being treated it will be
sufficient to see that the grains are
thoroughly wet on the outside. If oats
are being treated enough of, the solu-
ton should be put upon the pile to in
sure that each grain is quite thoroughly
saturated, SO that the solution may get
inside Of the shucks. It will be better
if the oats are sprinkled and shoveled
quite thoroughly once, then after two or
three hours they are given another
thorough treatment. In the meantime
they will have swelled some and the
second application of the solution will
be more effective.
As to the amount of the solution that
Que should use per bushel of grain, I
shall have to leave to the judgment of
each y applying the treatment, mas
much as success of the work depends
very much more upon the manner in
which the s%prinkling and shoveling is
done than upon the amount of the solu-
ton put On. I have found, however,
that properly treated oats take up about
two and one-half gallons Of water per
bushel, that properly treated wheat
takes up about mi and one-half gallons
of water per bushel. This will give you
q rough estimate of how much formalin
to procure. The treatment will be more
effective and satisfactory if it is done
one day and the grain allowed to re-
L M s# --l N.