East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1908-10-14

The recent harvest has probably |
broken all previous records in losses
due to wheat and oat smut in eastern |
Oregon, eastern Washington and !
northern Idaho. It is impossible to |
estimate with any degree Of accura-
cy to just what this loss will amount |
but It is safe to say that the aggre-
gate vii run into the millions of dol
lars. So prevalent was this disease |
that scarcely a grain field could be |
found that was not more or less af-
fected. In some localities practical |
ly all Of the grain coming TO the !
warehouses is smutty and much Of 1t
is docked from to cents per BUSH |
el. The warehouse dockage Is only a !
small portion OF the total loss for 20
per cent OF many crops consisted Of
smut and hence never reaches the
warehouses. In addition to this di-
rect loss from smut, many farmers
suffered heavy losses indirectly. Dur
ing the harvest season an unusually
large number Of threshing machines
were burned. the causes Of which
were traceable in nearly every in
stance to the smutty condition of the
grain. This gigantic loss from smut
IS living monument Of evidence that
almost universal treatment for smut
the usual vitroil or bluestem treat
ment-is not always effective and can
not be relied upon.
What Smut Is.
To successfully handle the smut
problem one should thoroughly un-
derstand the nature and development
of the smut plant. In Bulletin No. "a
OF the Washington state Experiment
station, Prof r. X. Beattie describes
the smut plant as follows:
The disease We commonly call
smut is produced by a small plant
which lives upon the wheat plant
and steals its food from it. The fine
black powder called smut is made up
of a multitude of small grains, each
Of which may grow into smut plant if
placed under the proper conditions.
when a grain of wheat is planted
with a live smut grain on it. both Of
them soon germinate. The grain Of
wheat produces a wheat plant; the
grain Of smut produces a smut plant.
The smut plant produces small color
less grains which at once grow into
other smut plants. Thus from one
original black smut grain several
smut plants may soon come. One OF
these plants bOres its way through the
tissue Of the stalk. Here it lives for
the rest Of its life, growing up with
the stalk and stealing food from it.
But only when the wheats skin is soft
and young can the smut penetrate.
About the time that the first green
leaf unrolls, the skin gets hard and
from then on can not be penetrated
by the smut. If the wheat has not
been attacked by this time II is safe
If, however, the smut has succeeded
in entering the wheat stalk the injury
is done and the wheat will suffer
While growing up with the stalk dur
ing the winter and spring it check
the growth Of the wheat straw ant
makes the smutted plants noticeabl.
shorter than the sound ones. Whel
the wheat head forms, the smut plan
sends its branches into it and take
up the plant food as fast as it is de
posted in the kernels. There
places its own grains and thus pro
vides for its next years growth"
From this description Of the smu
plant it is evident that the diseas
may be attacked in two ways: q
To treat the seed wheat with some
thing that will retard the germinatio
os the smut grains until the whea
plants have developed skins that ar
too tough for the smut plants to en-
ter; (2) to treat the seed wheat wit
something that will KILL the smu
grains, thereby removing all possbil
ity Of infection. The nature Of tn
two treatments suggests which Of tn
two is the most effective
VitriOI. Retarding Process.
The Wtriol treatment for smut
very familiar to all concerned an
hence II Is unnecessary to describe
in detail here. One peculiar thin
about this process is the lack Of uni
formity in the strength Of the solutio
used. Some use a weak solutio
while others use one Of grea
strength. The vltriol solution is usu
ally placed in a barrel or trough. Th
wheat 10 be treated is then immers
ed in the solution in sacks about
bushel to the sack. After remainin
in the solution for an indefinite pei
iod Of time-from 10 10 minutes
the sacks are set upon a drainin
board II after drying, the kerne
are covered with a visible coating {
vitriol the wheat is usually considere
well treated.
Men who have thoroughly invest
gated this subject tell US that ver
few Of the smut grains are really xii
cd by this treatment. Its chief Walt
seems TO be in retarding the deve
opment Of the smut plants. If Il
wheat grains are covered with coatir
of vitriol when sOwn and germanatiC
takes place Immediately, this trea
nient probably has considerab
value.
Why the VltriOl Treatment Fails.
The vital weakness Of this proce
lies in the fact that but few Of u
smut grains are actually killed. Muc
OF the smut is lodged in the groo'
or one side Of the wheat kernel ar
when immersed in the solution the
IS usually an air bubble that occupi