The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1914-03-20

nc lONdl dhllhoi W.
diseases in the United States Is estl'
mated to be $45. 600, 600. Moreover, over
onc-half or nearly $50, 000, 900 OF this
loss is caused by ~prevent'5le diseases
remedies for which have been deVeI'
oped and plaG@d in disable form Tor
the farmers bv state and federal au-
thorities.
The department Of agriculture
through the office Of cereal invest
cations of the bureau OF plant INDUS
try. has specialists in grain diseases
working in laboratory, field and green
house in an effort 10 solve many SCI
entitic and practical problems OF dis
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 dis
eases that are causing such an enOr-
nous loss in the grain fields. In adj
dition. a w~ell-equipped laboratory IS
maintained at Washington, where mi
croscopic, cultural and other studies
Of the disease-causing organisms are
carried on during the greater part OF
the year.
While rusts and smuts of cereals
are perhaps the most widely distrlD-
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 ali
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 sinking smut, or cunt
in wheat, common in all graln-growlng
sections and especially troublesome in
the Palouse country Of the northwest,
NutIc II ID IdNhCi " AOiSAOit o"iPo
to the fact that it lives over winter in
the soil. The estimated average an
nual loss is two per cent. OF h crop.
This smut is easily distinguished III
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 pen 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
practically gotten rid of by any II 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
this treatment. II may be either
n oi NbO Sioih Vi phS 6AoAh hhpy
be soaked in the solution. The fol
lowing method of treatment is recon-
mended by tho Washington expert
ment station:
Construct a watertight trough s
feet long, IA inches deep and "a inches
wide. Fill this two-thirds full of the
formalin solution. which has been
made up by dissolving one pint Ga
pound) of 40 per cent. formaldehyde
in 40 gallons Of water. Into this pour
slowly the seed wheat until the trough
is nearly half full OF grain. Then stir
thoroughly with a lo%ng-handle shovel
in order to float to the surface any
smut balls that may have been car
ried In by the grain. These should
be skinned of and destroyed. Leave
the grain in the solution about one
half hour. 1t may then be lifted out
and piled up on a granary floor or or
the bottom Of a wagon box and COW
cred with moist sacks, where II is left
over night. On the following morning
1t will be ready to SOW. If 1t is de-
sired to SOW the grain in a dry condi-
ton, it will be necessary to spread the
treated seed out on the floor to a
depth Of Two or three inches, stirring
frequently in order to hasten the dry
ing process. II the seed Is sown wet.
allowance should be made for it's
swollen condition by setting the drill
TO SOW a larger quantity per acre.
The oat smut. another destructive
disease. is widely distributed. some
fields having shown as high as 80
per cent. OF smutted heads. Estimated
average annual loss is about two per
cent. OF the crop. This smut is most
easily noticed a little before the grain
is ripe. when smutted plants are found
to be shorter and TO stand more erect
than sound ones. In place OF the
kernels there are dark masses Of smut
dust which. sometimes, are covered by
the chaff or glumes and sometimes are
eft fully exposed and are then soon
Fox a God In Japan.
Hiet Takahashi, the quaint son Of
Nippon. who attends William Jewell