Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-03-25
a New Treatment for Smut.

| The loss from smut in grains In the
| cereal regions of the west during the
past twenty-five years has been far up
among the millions. In the state OF
Wisconsin during the past season the
loss from smut in oats alone was over
| Sc. 600, 900. 1t is said by those In charge
of the experiment in destroying this
disease at the state experiment station
of Wisconsin that every dollar of this
vast sum could have been saved If the
farmers had followed the method OF
treatment discovered at this station
and and now given to the public with
out cost
All growers of oats all growers, in
deed, of all cereals subject to smut,
within clearing distance" of the press,
will be interested in the work which
those station has accomplished 1t is of
large significance to the grain interests
of the northwest.
Smut, to put it scientifically, is
caused by parasite which grows
within the grain plant The prime OBJ
ject of this parasite is first to destroy
the seed of the plant and then to scatter
Its contamination among healthy
plants. The spores, or particles of
smut, are fine like dust and are easily
blown from plant to plant by the wind.
One spore will infect a healthy grain
and the spores developed in this
healthy body will then go on injecting
other heads. the spread thus being very
rapid. The smut spores do not live over
winter in the ground, but are killed
thru frost or inclement weather. The
only way the spores have of living and
carrying on their deadly work from
season to season Is in the seed grain.
From the infected seed grains In the
spring comes the damage.
Smut in oats, as in other crops, is an
insidious foe and gets its foothold be-
fore the farmer is aware of its pres
ence. The authorities at the Wisconsin
station, in order ia find out last sum-
mer just how badly the crop was being
effected, adopted novel plan. large
number of oat farmers were asked by
circular letter to go out to their oat
fields on a given date, and, taking
barrel hoop in hand, throw 1T out into
the standing oats. The stalks inside
the hoop were then counted and the
number of heads infected was carefully
noted to show the relation of good to
bad This plan was repeated In vari-
Gus parts of the field, and the average
of all the percentage figured out Civ
ing an approximate average for the en-
tire field.
1t was found by careful analysis
of the reports Of all the counties that
the average infection Of the entire oat
region of the state was 20 per cent In
some instances the infection was as low
as 2 or 3 per cent, while in others it
rose to 35 per cent. In st. Croix county.
hard by Minnesota, the average was 26.
per cent.
The crop of the state for the summer
was 100000 bushels. Had the treat
ment suggested by the station been
used this yield would have risen to 91,-
100000 bushels. as the loss was 1885,
900 bushels, worth, allowing an aver
age Of but IS cents per bushel, $685.,
500.
The treatment proposed is inexpen-
sive and, on the authority of the Wis
cpnsin station, certain. It consists In
tSeating the seed oats with formalde-
hyde solutions. Experiments were
made in previous years, in order to en-
able the authorities to go to the farmer
with relief already tested. Oats taken
from infected plots treated with a solu-
ton of formaldehyde to fifty gallons of
water raised a crop without single
smut spore. The oats having a solu-
ton of one pound to 200 gallons of wa
ter We're not specially helped their rec
ord being 20 per cent infection. The
oats which were taken from the same