The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1909-09-02
Grain SHUTS.

A dangerous parasite of many of the
cereal plants is the fungus that pro-
duces in the grain or head what is
known as smut. There are several
well known kinds of smut, each of
which Is caused by a distinct species
of the fungus.
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 smuts of barley and wheat, which
are more difficult to control and pre-
vent. They are widely distributed,
and, though they occur usually in
small quantities, the damage in the
aggregate is large. They often are en-
tirely unnoticed on account of theiy
earliness and the absence of any COLI
spicuous sign of them at harvest time.
The sinking 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 dis
charge their spores, which are blown
off by the wind as soon as the smutted
head comes out of the leaf sheath;
they infect the plant in the Towering
stage and enter the embryo inside the
ovary before the latter ripens into
seed. An infected 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 Bureau of
Plant Industry Bulletin 1872, entitled
THE Loose SHUTS of Barley and
Wheat" recently issued by the, United
States Department of Agriculture The
bulletin is a report of recent re-
searches into the life histories of these
smuts and the determination of meth
DDS for their prevention, and is in
tended for seed growers and scientific
farmers.
Growing Alfalfa.
A fertile soil Is required for a good
stand and growth; and, for enriching
the soil for this crop, stable manure
stanks in the front rank. But when
used it must be applied in such man
ner that any weed seed in 1t will not
spring up and choke out the alfalfa.
The manure may be plowed under
deeply, or 1t may be spread on the
surface Immediately preceding seed
ing. The best possible soil is one that
has been MANFRED the year before,
and the weeds destroyed by cultiva-
ton. A great aid to the soil is hui
mus, and where sufficient stable ma
nure is not available for supplying
this needed humus, growing and plow-
ing under crops of field peas, soy
beans, rye and such crops, will ma
terially help in bringing the soil to
the proper humus state. PhoSphoric
acid and potash are necessary plant
elements for the crop, and should
these not be present in the soil in suf-
ficient quantities, they must be sup
piled as commercial fertilizers.
Being tender and sensitive, young
alfalfa plants can not stand being
crowded by weeds or other plants.
Should a rank growth of weeds start
with the young alfalfa, the latter is
pretty sure to be crowded out and
killed. In order TO prevent weeds
from accomplishing this destruction,
the ground should be broken in the
spring, and several crops of youoe
Il
sroyed by surface cultivation so as
to reduce the number of weed seed
in the soil before the alfalfa is sown.
In this way, alfalfa seed can be sown
the latter part of July without any
danger of destruction by weeds.
Like most leguminous plants, alfal.
ia does best in soil in which there are
many nitrifying bacteria. For the
best results the soil should be inocu-
lated with the proper bacteria by Sc.
curing some of the soil from an old al
falfa field and sowing 1t on the pro-
posed new field at about 200 pounds
to the acre. AS soon as the infected
soil is sown on the new field it must
be narrowed in or otherwise Gov
cred to prevent sunlight from destroy.
ing the nitrifying bacteria.
Midsummer Is the proper time fol
seeding alfalfa, and only the best seed
should be used. From to 25 pounds
of seed have proved successful, but
about Is pounds to the acre is the
right amount Should the soil be en-.
tirely free from weeds, 10 pounds OF
seed to the acre would be sufficient,
The seeding and covering may be done
with grain drill.