Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1903-04-01

Grain and That Il Can BE Avoided
BY Sowing Less Seed to the Acre
and Preventing Weak 0rowths OF
Grain.
c. w. Justice, a correspondent OF
the Eddy County Provost. sends an in
teresting communication to that
paper, in which he deals with the sub
ject of smut in graz lie takes issue
with the scientists VINO say that
smut is procreated. and says:
Until our professors or some n else
furnish evidence to the contrary, |
shall maintain that smut Is not gener-
ated by the spores of the preceding
year.
The grains Of wheat on the main
stalk r very rarely, if ever. affected
with smut. ninety-nine per cent at
least being on the lateral shoots.
If the spores that are clinging to the
seed grain will generate a new crop of
smut the main stalk would be the very
one that would be affected, because it
is the one that proceeds from within
the diseased grain. and therefore
comes directly In contact with what
ever spores may be clinging to that
grain.
The lateral stalks which never come
in contact with the seed, but shoot out
from the main stalk about half an
inch above the ground. are the only
ones ever affected with smut.
The cause of this is very apparent to
one who has studied the case in a
proper manner
Smut. like many other forms of
cryptOgamia. grows spontaneously,
having no parents except the atmos-
phere and the substance of things on
which it grows. and belongs to the
same class as rust, mould, mildew, puff
balls and many other forms.
Dampen a loaf of bread with a
strong solution of fo~rmaldehyde and
place it in a cellar and that bread will
mould in spite of the chemical treat
ment and the only parents the mould
can claim are bread and the atmos-
phere.
Chlorophyll is a granular substance
contained in the cells of all plants and
through which all plant food is assimi-
lated, and if the c~hrlorophyll loses it's
granular form and becomes watery to
any extent, which it will do, under GER
tain atmospheric conditions, a crop Of
smut is sure to follow.
Chlorophyll constitutes the stomach.
liver, kidneys and bowels of all plants.
and when the %chlorophyll in the wheat
plant gets out of order, the plant gets
a boil on its head and we call it smut.
In a very large majority of cases the
injury to the chlorophyill is caused by
sun-stroke. When we find a preventa-
tive for sun-stroke the smut question
is very nearly settled.
AIAPSI Ia alu N0lCluI ODScIVdlIOIl
have taught me that the drill is mostly
to blame for sun-struck wheat. oats
and barley, while a partial preventa-
tive therefor has resulted from these
same observations.
A bushel and a peck of wheat per
acre., which is the amount generally
sown with the drill, is too much to be.
gin. and II the weather is cool and
otherwise favorable for stooling, the
wheat will be entirely too thick, and as
a result a very rapid growth will take
place.
Each stock trying to outgrow the
other. This rapid growth weakens the
constitution of the plant and causes
the outer bark to be very thin. Now
II We get a number of heavy dews and
a few days of cloudy weather, which
causes the plant to be still more tender
and this Is followed by a few days hot
sun, those lateral stalks that have been
the most shaded and consequently very
weak. will surely be sun-struck-that
is. the chlorophyll becomes watery and
a crop Of smut will be the result. Let
1t be remembered that the Dakota
, farmers had no trouble about smut
prior to the Introduction of the drill
method of sowing grain. II the farm.
ers will SOW their wheat broadcast on
the furrow, not later than the first OF
May. three-fourths of the smut will be
avoided. II wheat must be drilled
thirty quarts Of good seed per acre ia
the outside quantity. II four bushels
OF wheat is sown in drills two inches
apart instead Of six. that wheat will
never smut. because 1t will not stool,
Last spring I sowed barley that was
about one-third smut, and Of this mix.
ture sowed less than two bushels per
acre the first week in May. and from
that sowing I harvested forty bushels
per acre, entirely free from smut.