The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1904-02-26
EXPERIMENT STATIONS.
MILLIONS SAVED TO SOIL TILLERS BY
SCIENTIFIC METHODS.

The experiment station, ass factor
in the development of the country s
agricultural resources; is not fully ap-
preciated. 1t receives great credit,
but It's actual cash value to the coun-
try cannot be estimated. Take the
state of North Dakota, for example.
At time when the nature and char
acteristics of wheat smut we're but i'm
perfectly understood and the disease
was spreading with fearful rapidity
throughout the great wheat area of
the state, the experiment station prov
ed the source OF relief.
1t required a prodigious amount Of
study and expert m entation to fully
diagnose the disease and to discover a
SAFE speedy and economical remedy.
Various remedies were found to be ef-
fective, such as corrosive sublimate,
potassium sulphide, hot water, forma-
lin and other things, but most Of them
were difficult to apply Corrosive subli-
mate is poisonous and consequently
dangerous, and also has tendency to
retard termination. Hot water treat
ment is too delicate for the former to
use. Formadehyde was finally select
ed as remedy that could he easily,
effectively and with perfect safety and
which instead of retar1ing termination
facilitates it.
Prof Bolly demonstrated that the
gain from the quicker termination of
wheat when treated with formaldehyd de
fully or more than makes up for the
expense Of the chemical and the labor
incident to its application to the
grain
IMMENSE BENEFIT TO FARMERS.
What are the benefits accruing to
the farmers of the state from investi-
cations Of wheat smut? From the fact
that smutted and clean wheat could
not be kept separate in the vators,
and as il required expensive machin-
cry to scour smutted wheat previous
to grinding it, was conservatively es-
timated by wheat dealers that, where
smut was generally prevalent, it
meant an everage depression in price
Of at least .05 per bushel.
An average 5O,OOO,O0O bushel crop
meant loss of $4,000 900. But this
was not all, nor the chief loss from
smut. The nature of the disease be-
ing parasitical in character, it did not
always manifest its presence or evil
effects in the form of smut balls in tile
wheat head, bnt the chief injury result
ed in the weakening Of the plant from
the disease, so that the yield was, in
consequence, several bushels less per
acre and of inferior grade. Fields
we're frequently and generally found
with the straw badly infested with
smut, but with little or no evidence of
the disease in the form of developed
smut balls in the head. A field OF
wheat go effected, it was carefully esti-
mated, would yield from three to
four bushels less per acre than where
the grain was free from the disease.
Taking an average of but two bush
els less per acre on the whole crop, or
four bushels less per acre on half the
acreage sown annually, and we have a
loss of 10 900 900 bushels for a single
harvest.
LOSS OF MILLIONS.
Ten million bushels of wheat at so
cents per bushel means a loss of S.
100000, plus 50 100000 loss from de-
preston in price, and we have grand
| toIdl Va ,CUO,OUO 1879 pci W
the farmers of the state. Making any
allowance one may wish from the
above figues for extravaganza of esti-
mate, and still the saving to the wheat
growers is enormous. But the state
ment is not an extravagant one, in
view of the rapid increase of the
disease before a remedy was found to
check it.
So eff .ctive is the remedy and so
easily anal cheaply applied that the
farmer today is in dsrepute if he
grows smutted wheat. One pound OF
formaldehyde to forty gallons of water
applied to the grain with sprinkling
can AMI shovel, is the remedy. The
same solution with slight variat ton as
to str, Myth is equally effective for pre-
venting potato scah or smut in oats or
barley.
This is only one instance whe re the
experiment station has come to the aid
L. e.. T.