Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1909-08-21
AGRICULTURAL POINTERS.
'5v'
Grain SHUTS.


A dangerous parasite Of many: e
the cereal plants is tile fungus that
produces in the grain Or head what
is known. as smut, each of which Is
caused by a distinct species of a
fungus f..
The greatest loss from smuts in
this country. is from the sinking
smut of wheat and the loose smut Of
OATS A. considerable loss Is also due
to the loose SHUTS of barley and
wheat, which are more difficult. to
control and prevent. They are wide.
ly distributed, and though they &C.
cur usually In small quantities the
damage in. the aggregate Is large.
on account of their earliness and, .he
absence Of any CONSPICUOUS sign of
them at harvest time. -
The shrinking smut of wheat trans.
forms only the kernels into smut
balls which do not break until the
wheat is threshed and often remain
intact in the threshed grain. The
loose smuts Of barley, ON the other
hand early discharge their Spores
which are blown off by the wind as
soon as the smutted head comes out
of the leaf sheaf: they infect The
plant in the Towering stage and enter
the embyro inside the ovary before
the latter ripens into seed. An in
fected seed develops a smutted plant
The following year.
The most successful method thus
far found for preventing these smuts
is a hot-water treatment Of the seed.
This treatment Is described in the
Bureau of Plan. Industry Bulletin 152
entitled "The Loose Shuts of Barley
and Wheat" recently issued by the
u. s. Department of Agriculture
The bulletin is a report of recent re-
searches into the life histories of
these smuts and the determination
of methods for their prevention. and
is intended for iseed growers and
scientific farmers. .-.<,. j.. = -.
Green strired Maple Worm. IS
Maple trees are attacked by num-
Der of insects, the worst of which
are the fall web worm and the cat.-
erpiller of the tussock moth. Anoth-
er troublesome pest Of all kinds of
maple is the green-striped maple
worm, which eats the leaves. often
dsfoliating the Tree entirely. This
is naked catterpiller, yellowish
green, nearly two inches long. The
moth of this catterpiller is Of a beau
tiful pale yellow shaded with deli.
cate pink. The spread Of wing, Is
about two inches. =: VII
+ The insect abounds especially In
Kansas, Missouri, Illinois sand Iowa.
but is found also in Che gulf states
and In the north and east. In Mis-
souri, there art two broods In o year
and each female moth lays ct least
$50 eggs. a,E s'5%% # t,s y /.
I! Some birds eat the green-striped
Ema3le worm, such As the, robin, blue.
bird, taf'ed titmouse, red-hestted1.
woodpeckdr, and J; others. These
should be protected. 3sts ~ Is.
Paris green sprayed on the trees
will kill the young caterpillars one
pound to so gallons Of water may be
.used. but one-half pound will prob.
ably be sufficient. Arsenate OF lead
may be used as strong as to
pounds for so gallons OF wafer. II nj
"A trench dug about the tree a.
foot deep. with sides sioping under.
will trap large numbers OF catefpil-
lars as they leave the tree in search
OF 3laca TO bore into the ground
and enter the pupa stage OF their
life. In the trench they can be aeasf.
w killed. :s.ss ss.3 ::sssS,sY.s
This insect is more fully described
In Circular 10 OF the Bureau OF En-
5tomology, y. 8. Department Of Agri--
culture. 5ss 81