The St. Johns herald., 1900-10-27

~ oH4uttou HeaQs. The foreman o Il the ranch reported that about on, of third of the grain hay raised Id this field had been smutted wit r. this fungus for .he past two years
 the seed each season having bee
 obtained from Indian sources. H ; reported still further that the see u sown had a very bad fetid odol o indicating, without much doubt :" the presence of this disease. z After making inquiries of severa
 responsible individuals regarding
 the prevalence of smutty wheat,
 circular letter was addressed to the
 millers of the Territory, asking
 them for certain information upor
 the subject. Returns from these letters indicate that more or less smut is offered for sale at all the mills heard from, and the quantity varies from 2 to 20 per cent of the total amount purchased. In one instance fully one-half the flour
 ground is reported to be dark with
 smut. One correspondent<reports
 wheat to be injured to the extent
 of 90 per cent of it's value for mill-
 ing purposes, while another speaks
 of wheat offered for sale which he
 refuses to buy at any price. The
 returns show still further that all
 but one of the Indian tribes in the
 Territory invariably raise smutty
 wheat. Our own observations re-
 garding crops raised from seed
 bought of them indicate that there
 are some cases in which their crops
 are in very deplorable condition
 indeed.
 Smut is caused by a parasitic
 fungus, the spores of which may be
 found in the "hairy ends' of the kernels of smut" wheat. These spores germinate at the same time as the wheat. and send small tubes into the young plants. These de- velop and grow apace with the wheat the entire season; but can not be seen, except by the aid of a microscope, until the berry begins to form, when the fungus distorts the kernel and fills it with smutty mass of spores covered with a thin shell. When this shell sis broken by threshing, the spores are Set free and cling to the "hairy ends" of the healthy berries, where they are again ready to produce another crop of smut the next season.
 There are many plant diseases, some of them occurring in Arizona which baffied every attempt of the investigator to subdue. Some have received but little attention, and it is hoped future investigation may bring them under control. These facts, however do ct apply to the, 'stinking smut" of wheat, for it has been demonstrated repeatedly that certain treatment will destroy the fungus which causes this dis ease. There is, therefore no good reason why the farmer should go on sraising smutty wheat year arfter Year when little time and patience will increase his crops and furnish him more marketable returns for his labors.
 The remedy is simple and easily applied. Any farmer can, by ex- penditure of very small amount of money, treat his seed wheat in manner that will insure his crop against an attack of this fungus. He needs for this operation four things: Limestone or copper sul- phate, a good quality of lime, some large vessels which will hold water, E such as tubs or barrels, and place to spread his wheat out to dry when he is thru treating it.
 The operation is as follows One pound of copper sulphate is dissolv- ed in 24 gallons of water. Ike seed is soaked in this solution for 12 hours. after which the lIquid is drained off. and the seed is again soaked for 10 minutes in lime-water made by shaking one pound of lime in 10 gallons of water. After dry ing, the wheat can be sown at any time without any danger from the . feet of smut.
 The process tahulated is as follows: l. Soak seed for 12 hours in copper sulphate solution. ?. Soak seed for } to 10 minutes in lime water. 3 Dry the sead