The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1904-03-25
PREVENTING GRAIN SMUT
Agricultural College Issues a Bulle
tin Explaining Method of
Preventing Smut.

\ circuit III has Just been issued
from the experiment station of the
agricultural college at B%rookings
which treats of the subject of SHUTS.
After touching on the formation and
spread of the smut in the various
grains the circular goes on to give
the desired information for the pre-
vention Of this injurious disease to
grains. The circular says:
Many farmers i'm South Dakota
have already tired some of the treat
ments recommended for these SHUTS
and have been very successful. The
few failures reported have been
shown to be due to on carelessness
in applying the treatment or in the
poor quality of the chemicals used.
1t must he Understood that corn
smut and the loose smut of wheat
a not be prevented by the seed
treatment recommended here. In
fact all experiments with seed treat
ment OF corn to prevent smut have
shown that such treatment is absO-
lutely useless. Among the substance !
es recommended for The treatment of
SHUTS are hot water. copper sulphate
(blue virtol), mercurlc chloride (cOl-
rosive sublimate) and formalin. All
of these have given good results. a
gas powder treatment has been re-
Gently advertised as a preventative
of smut but no recommendations can
be made with regard to tins treat
menr until trials have been made to
determine its value. The formalin
treatment has seemed to give as good
or better results than amy Of the
Others recommended. This is the
treatment which | recommed for use.
The formalin can be obtained OF
most drug stores at a small cost. 1T
is used at the rate of n pound of
formalin to 45 or 80 gallons of water.
From n to two gallons Of this mix
ture is required for each bushel Of
seed grain to be treated. More is
required for oats and barley than for
wheat. Three methods OF applica-
tion are in common use, viz, hand
sp~rinkling, soaking and machine.
J.. Sprinkling: Spread the seed
grain upon a smooth floor and
sprinkle it with the formalin mix
ture. An ordinary sprinkling can
may be used for this purpose. Then
shovel the grain over Thoroughly until
it is all wet by the formalin. After
this treatment pile upon the floor
and allow to stand for two or three
hours, not allowing any part of the
it has stood in the pile for the re.
quired time spread out upon the floor
to dry thoroughly and store away for
future use.
,. Soaking: Mix the formalin So
Tuition i'm a barrel or vat. Shovel the
seed grain loosely into sacks and
place these in the barrel or vat so
that they will be entirely coverd with
| the formalin solutin and allow to re-
main for one hour. At the eXpira-
ton Of that time remoye from the
barrel Or vat and spread the grain
out to dry.
3. Machine: Handling and treat
ing of large quantities OF seed grain
may be facilitated by the use of the
machine. Several machines for this
purpose are on the market. One Of
these, and Ovens Smut Cleaner No.
1, 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 Straw. in the treatment
Of oats or barley, it insures the wet
ting of grain but does not remove
any foreign material.
All grain treated with the machine
or sprinkled should be allowed to
stand in a pile for an hour or two be-
fore being spread cut to dry. If de-
sired to sow the grain at once simply
allow it to dry sufficiently for hand
ling. Ii desired to store away for fu-
tu1e use dry the grain thoroughly,
and store in sacks which have been
thoroughly cleansed with boiling
water.
If all farmers would realize the
etfici ency Of formalin in preventing
these smutS OF wheat, oats and barley
none Of these grains would be sown
without treating.
w. A. Wheeler.
Botanist and Etomologist.