The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1904-03-10
TREATMENT OF GRAIN SHUTS
Bulletin from Agricultural College
Experiment Station

Wis nature are recognized Dy luc
apparent transformation of some
parts Of the plant into a mass Of very
small dark-colored bodies known as
spores. In the sinking smut OF wheat
the contents OF the grain arc destroyed
and replaced by brown spores In the
loose smut Of oats and wheat not only
the grain but many other parts Of the
heads o: Clusters are destroyed In this
way.
These spores become lodged upon
the grain in the field or in handling
and are planted with the seed grain.
When the grain terminates the spores
of the smut which are, lodged on the
the grain also germinate and pene-
trate the young seeding. AS the grain
plant grows, the smut plant grows
inside IL but is not apparent until the
grain plant begins to produce a crop
OF seed The seeds or other parts of
the plant are then replaced by mass
Of spores.
/ IL oDOi 60 VI WV SbiA-h'b- SiAipo Va
wheat and the smuts Of oats and bar
| ley can be killed on the seed grain
| without killing the grain thus abso-
lutely preventing the occurrence Of
smut in the crop.
! Many farmers in South Dakota
have already tried some Of the treat
ments recommended for these smuts
and have been very successful. The
/ few failures reported have been shown
/ TO be due TO some carelessnesS in
applying the treatment or to the poor
quality Of the chemicals used. 1t
must he understood that corn smut
and the loose smut Of.wheat cannot
! be prevented by the seed treatment
! recommended here. In fact all expert
ments with seed treatment Of corn to
prevent smut have shown that such
! treatment is absolutely useless
, Among the substances recommended
| for the treatment Of smuts are hot
water sulphate (blue yitraD, mercuriC
chloride corrosive sublimate) and
! formalin. All of these have given
good results. A gas powder treat
ment has been recently advertised as
preventative Of smut but no recon-
mendations can be made with regard
to this treatment until trials have
beer made TO determine its value.
The formalIn treatment has seemed
to give as good or better results than
any Of the others recommended.
This is treatment which | recommend
for use.
The fCrmalin can be obtained Of
most drug stores at small cost. 1t
is used at the rate Of one pound of
formalin to 45 or so gallons OF water.
From one to two gallons Of this mix.
ture is required for each buShel of
seed grain to be treated. More is re-
qaired for oats and barley than for
wheat. Three methods Of applica.
tion are in common use, viz, hanG
sprinkling, soaking, and machine.
/. Sprinkling Spread the seed
grain upon asmOoth floor and sprinkle
it with the fOrmalin mixture. An
ordinary sprnkling can may be used
for this purpose. Then shovel the
grain over thoroughly until il is al
wet by the formalin. After this treat.
ment pile upon the floor and allow &c
stand for two or three hours, not
allowing any part Of the pile to dry
/ during that time. After it has stood
in the pile for the required time spread
out upon the floor to dry. Sow as
soon as dry enough to handle or dry
thoroughly and store away for future
use.
2. SOaking:-Mix the formalin solu
tion in barrel or vat. Shovel the
seed grain loosely into sacks and
place these in the barrel or vat so that
they will be entirely covered by the
formalin solution and allow to remain
for one hour. At the expiration OF
that time remove from the barrel OF
vat and spread the grain out to dry.
3. Machlne;-The handling an d
treating Of large quantities OF seed
grain, may be facilitated by the use
of a maCutnc. Several machines for
this purpose are on the market One
OF these, the Owens Smut Cleaner No.
I, has been sent TO the South Dakota
Experiment Station for trial. The
trial demonstrated the following
facts:-In the treatment of wheat
this machine insures the wetting of
every grain which passes through it
and also removes smut balls and any
other material which will float such
as wild oats, light weight grain or
pieces OF oats or barley, it insures the
wetting OF grain but does not remove
any foreign material.
All grain treated with the machine
or Sprink.ed should be allowed 10
stand in pile for an hour or two
before being spread out to dry. If
desired TO sow the grain at once sim
ply allow it TO dry sufficiently for
handling. IF desired to store away
-< or future use dry the grain thorough
ly aud store in sacks which have been
thoroughly cleansed with boiling
water.
II all farmers would realize the
efficiency Of formalin in preventing
these smuts Of wheat, oats and bar
ley none Of these grains would be
tlyift