The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1914-03-27

Qlrepared by the United States Depart
ment OF Agricultural
The total annual loss from eerea
diseases in the United States is esti
mated to be $45, 100000. Moreover, ovel
one.half OF nearly S25.O0O,0OO of this
loss is caused by preventable diseases
remedies for which have been devel
oped and placed In usable form toi
the farmers by state and federal au
! thorities.
The department of agriculture
through the office Of cereal inVesu
cations OF the bureau OF plant indus
try. has specialists in grain diseases
working In laboratory, field and green
house In an effort 20 solve many sci
entinc and practical problems Oh ais
ease control which confront the
grower OF cereals. The state expert
ment stations OF Minnesota, Kansas
and Washington are cooperating with
the department with a view OF con-
trolling and eliminating plant ais
eases that are causing such an enor-
nous loss in the grain fields. In ad-
dition, a well-equipped laboratory Is
maintained at Washington, where mi
croscopic, cultural and other studies
of the dlsease-causing organisms are
carried on during the greater part OF
the year
While rusts and smuts OF cereals
are perhaps the most widely distrib-
uted and most harmful diseases which
have been studied. there Is another
class of cases" which our plant doc
tors must now consider. These dis
eases are commonly called scabs,
willis, blights, and a number OF other
popular names. They are nearly all
OF them properly called soil Diseases
because their spores have the power
of living in the soil. as well as on the
straw, leaf or seed of their host plant
They are caused, as is the case with
rusts and smuts, by parasitic fungous
plants which get their nourishment
from our cultivated green plants.
Among the preventable cereal dis
eases is the stinking smut or bunt
in wheat. common in all grain-growing
sections and especially troublesome in
the Palouse country of the northwest
where it is harder to control, owing
to the fact that it lives over winter in
the soil. The estimated average an
nual loss is two per cent. of the crop.
This smut is easily distinguished in
the field when the grain is almost ripe.
The smutted plants are usually slight
ly stunted and the heads stand more
erect than the heavy, sound heads.
The chaff is spread apart more or less
by the dark, swollen kernels, giving
the head an open appearance. When
the tough membrane, or skin, Of such
a kernel is broken, a dark, smeary,
dust-like mass is disclosed which has
a peculiar fetid odor like that of de-
cayed fish.
The smut can be controlled and /
gotten rid of by any one of /
the seed treatments which have been |
worked out and recommended for a
number of years by the state expert
ment stations. OF these the forma-
lin treatment is probably the best.
There are several ways of applying
his treatment. 1t may be either
sprayed on the grain or the grain may
be soaked in the solution. The fol
owing method of treatment is recon.
nended by the Washington expert
nent station:
Construct a water-tight trough
eet long, IA inches deep and "a inches
vide. Fill this two-thirds full of the
ormalin solution, which has been
made up by dissolving one pint Ga
,ound) of 40 per cent. formaldehyde
n 40 gallons of water. Into this pour
lowly the seed wheat until the trough
thoroughly with a long-handle shovel
n order to float to the surface any
nut balls that may have been car
led in by the grain. These should
e skinned off and destroyed. Leave
he grain in the solution about one
alf hour. 1t may then be lifted out
nd piled up on a granary floor or on
he bottom of a wagon box and Gov
red with moist sacks, where it is left
yer night. On the following morning
will be ready to SOW. If it is de-
.red to SOW the grain in a dry condi-
on, it will be necessary to spread the
'eated seed out on the floor to a
epth of two or three inches, stirring |
in order TO hasten the dry
lg process. If the seed is sown wet,
Ilowance should be made for its
vollen condition by setting the drill
, SOW a larger quantity per acre.
The oat smut, another destructive
Isease, is widely distributed, some
elds having shown as high as 80 |
or cent. of smutted heads. Estimated |
yerage annual loss is about two per |
INT. of the crop. This smut is most |
lsily noticed little before the grain
ripe, when smutted plants are found |
be shorter and to stand more erect
ian sound ones. In place Of the \
ernels there are dark masses of smut
lst which, sometimes, are covered by
e chaff or glumes and sometimes are
IT fully exposed and are then soon
-NNN~o~.-~-o0o1~-~-o -o-~-~0~-~-~~SNDuo~-@-oA -
Fox a God in Japan. a
Hiet Takahashi, the quaint son of il
Upon, who attends William Jewell r