Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1903-04-18
Smut Probabilities for 1909.
Estate College Bulletin)

Estate College Bulletin)
The early rains last fall prevented
the sowing of fall wheat by many
OF farmers of Eastern Washington.
AS consequence, large per cent.
OF the 1903 wheat crop will be
spring-sown wheat. While it is
usually better from the standpoint
of the wheat farmer to get in his
crop in the fall, spring sowing is in
at least one way better. 1t is
without doubt true that among the
farmers of the Palouse country fall
sown wheat is more smutty than
spring-sown wheat. 1t is not so
easy to tell the reason for this, how
ever. The explanation of this fact
which best fits our present knowledge
is as follows:
The smut of wheat (and of
other grains) is caused by small
plant which lives within the It's
sues of the wheat and steals its
food from it. This smut plant
produces large numbers of grains
of smut, which we find in the smut
balls and, by the breaking of these
balls, scattered overthe wheat. When
a grain of wheat with live smut
grains on it is planted both grow.
The wheat grain grows into wheat
plant; the smut grain grows into
smut plant. The smut plant tries
to penetrate the skin of the wheat
and get into its stem. This it can
do if the skin is not too old and hard.
About the time that the first green
leaf of the wheat unrolls the skin
gets too hard, and if the wheat is
not infected by this time it is in no
dangerof being smutted.
When wheat is planted in the fall
in this country, especially if plant
ed early, it usually lies a long
while in the dry soil Tin dry dust,
the farmers call it, before it germi-
mates, and when it does terminate
it terminates slowly. If it has
been treated with vitriol in the usual
way, all the vitriol will be dissolved
away in the soil before termination
takes place. The usual way of
treating wheat does not kill the
smut, but simply retards its growth.
So when the vitriol is all gone the
smut gets in its work and the
farmer has a smutty crop.
With spring-sown wheat or late
fall-sown wheat the termination is
usually rapid and the wheat is often
past the danger point before the
vitriol disappears.
1t is much better for a farmer to
avoid these risks by using some
method which will kill the smut.
The formalin treatment will do this.
Itcan be applied in two ways.
TREATMENT RECOMMENDED.
Soaking Method.-Put a solution
of one pound of formalin (formalose
or formaldehyde are the same thing)
to sixty gallons of water in large
trough or vat. Pour in the wheat
loose and skim off the wild oats and
smut balls. Or if you are treating
oats, but them in half-flled sacks
and put them in. In either case
let them soak forfaOo hours. Then
take them out and spread them out
on a clean floor or canvas to dry.
Scald the floor or canvas if neces-
sary to clean it.
Shrinking MetAod.-If you pre-.
fer to sprinkle, clean floor with
scalding water. Spread out eight
to ten bushels of grain. Sprinkle
it with formalin solution Zone
pound to forty-five gallons of water),
while it is being vigorously shoveled,
until all the grain is thoroughly
wet. Throw it aside in a pile.
Treat another eight or ten bushels,
and throw it in the pile. Continue
till all is treated. Cover the pile
with wet sacks and let title for two
hours. Then spread out to dry,
with the precautions mentioned
above.
When dry, put this clean grain
in clean Tor scalded) sacks, and
scald your seeder. Don't smut it
all over again, or your labor is lost.