Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1902-03-13

insidious foe and gets its foothold before
the farmer is aware of it's presence. The
authorities at the Wisconsin station, in
order TO find ont last summer just how
badly the crop was affected, adopted a
royal plan. A large number of oat
farmers were asked by circular letter to
go out to their oat fields'on a given date
and, taking a barrel hoop in hand, throw
it 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
various parts of the field, and the ave-
rage of all the percents figured ont Civ
ing an approximate average for the
entire field.
1t was found by a 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 ? or 8 per cent, while in others it rose
to 35 per cent. In st. Croix county,
hard by Minnesota, the average was &c
per cent.
The crop of the state for the summer
was 72,000, 900 bushels. Had the treat
ment suggested by the station been used
this yield would have risen to 81, $50, 900
bushels, worth allowing an average of
but 30 cents per bushel So, 1897, 500.
THE TREATMENT PROPOSED.
The treatment proposed is inexpen-
sive and, on the authority of the Wis
consin station, certain. 1t consists in
treating the seed cats with formaldhyd
solutions. Experiments We're made in
previous years, in order to enable the
authorities to go to the farmer with
relief already tested. Oats taken from
infected plots treated with a solution of
one pound of formaldehyd to fifty gal
Ions of water raised a CROP without a
single smut spore. The oats having a
solution of one pound to 200 gallons of
water We're not specially helped, their
record being 20 per cent infection. The
oats which were taken from the same
lot and not treated, yielded 81 per cent
of infected plants.
1t was found that the seed oats
needed to be submerged in the solution
twenty minutes, and when this was
done i'll a solution of one pound of
formaldehyd to fifty gallons of water
the results were absolute-there was no
smut in the products of such seeds
all cases yielding the anne results.
EXPLICIT DIRECTIONS.
The directions given by the Wiscon-
sin station are so explicit and so valu-
able for the farmer hat they are given
herewith:
IF fifty bushels of seed oats are to be
treated, secure from a drug store one
pound or a pint of formaldehyd (some-
times called formalin). Speak to your
druggist IN advance so that he may
secure the formaldehyd in time, if he
does not have it on hand. Put into a
barrel OF cask fifty gallons of water and
pour in the one pound of formaldehyd
liquid to make the proper solution. Dip
out about one-half of the solution into
another cask in order to treat two sacks
of oats at the same time, thus facilitat-
ing the work. Place about two bushels
of oats in each of two gupny sacks or
large bags and submerge the oats in the
solution for twenty minutes; then lift
the sacks from the cask and let drain
for a minute or two so as to save solu-
ton. Empty the oats ON a threshing
floor or on a canvas TO dry and proceed
as before, using the same sacks for the
remainder of the cats.
The solution as used is not poisonous
and will not injure the sacks or clothing
coming in contact with it. Formalde-
hyd is a gas generated by burning wood
alcohol. 1t is readily soluble in water,
which will hold 40 per cent of it in solu-
ton. This solution is sold by most
drug stores under the name Of formal
dehyd or formalin at about 80 cents per
pound.
II is well to treat the seed oats two or
three days before sowing TO give ample
time TO dry. III the oats are shoTelled
over a few times it will facilitate the
drying very much and NJ difficulty will
be experienced sowing with seeder or
drill. The treated oats can be sown
with a forca-feed drill or seeder when
quite damp, but the machine should be
set so that it will indicate sowing about
a peck more than the quantity desired
per acre, as the oats are swollen and
will o run quite as freely as dry oats.
The treatment of seed oats seems to
facilitate tho aproutiup. n difference of