The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1914-01-22

! The best results are gained BY row.
Ing the seed into the ground while Il
II yet swelled and damp. Do not dry
the seed. This cuts down the yield
and does not tend to prevent the smut
as we'll as 1t does II the seed Ia used
damp.
Oats, BarIey.-Same treatment %
wheat, except they should be soaked
q little more thoroughly, If possible.
so that the solution may penetrate be-
low the shucks.
For Flax Seed.-Same strength So
luton, but the best way to apply it to
the seed is to use three or four gal
lon compressed air sprayer and force
the formaldehyde solution on with q
fine force spray upon the flax seed.
Flax does not carry any OF the smuts
but 1t carries a very much more de-
structive rot disease.
Treat Every Year.-Many people
ask whether they should treat their
seed every year, regardless of wheth-
er there is or is not smut. The an
swer is Yes" 1t pays. We find
that there is direct increase of two
or three bushels per acre on the
proper treatment of wheat, ten or If.
teen bushels per acre on the proper
treatment Of barley, and anywhere
from one to ten or fifteen bushels per
acre for the proper treatment Of fax.
The reason for this is that there are
other diseases than smut. Most Of
them are very destructive because
they kill the roots az In the case Of
max. Wheat itself is attacked by five
or six root destroying fungi which
are carried on the seed.
Always grade the seed thoroughly.
whether it is wheat, fax, barley or
oats. This department, in its latest
experiments, has clearly demonstrated
that shrivelled seed tend to repro
duce their own kind. The reason
for this is that shrivelled seeds usu.
ally grow upon mother plants, which
are attacked by some form of root
diseases, and commonly they have the
fungi directly on the inside of the
seed Formaldehyde treatment will
not reach these germs of disease SO
as to destroy them without killing the
seed. Thus, when the shrivelled seeds
are sowed, the young plants, which
come from them, are at once attack
ed by one or other of these root de-
stroying diseases. This is the chief
reason for throwing out, or grading
out shrivelled seed. The reason for
not allowing grain to get wet in the
shock rests largely on the same
ground The moulds which produce
the root destroying effects are sure
to be present on some heads of the
grain, and when the bundles get wet,
these moulds develop in great guam
tity apd grow directly in under the
bran layers or skin layers of the
moistened, softened seeds so that
even the healthy seeds become inter-
nally infected. The formaldehyde
treatment, or any other seed treat
ment cannot be as effective on seeds
which have once been wet as it can
be on dry. plump seed. Therefore, to
reiterate. select the plumpest, most
mature, best colored seeds of what
ever kind. grade until all dirt, sticks.
chaf, and any possible 5hrivelled
seeds are removed, then use the or
binary formaldehyde treatment. II
you want to be still more effective in
treating the seed for the individual
seed plot, write the department Of
botany, Of the Agricultural college,
North Dakota, for information re-
garding the treatment Of each indi-
vidual kind of seed for the seed
plot.