The Liberal democrat. [volume] (Liberal, Kan.) 1911-1924, 1914-03-20

lie lOldl duuuhi lOoo AiOA
diseases in the United States is est
mated to be $45, 900, 900. Moreover, Owe
one-half or nearly $25.00O,0OO OF this
loss Is caused by preventable diseases
remedies for which have been deVel
oped and placed in disable form fol
the farmers by state and federal au
thorities.
The department OF agriculture
through the Office OF cereal investi
cations of the bureau OF plant indus
try, has specialists in grain diseases
working In laboratory, field and green
house in an effort to solve many sci
entific and practical problems OF ais
ease control which confront the
grower OF cereals. The state expert
ment stations OF Minnesota, Kansas
and Washington are cooperating WIN
the department with view OF con
trolling and eliminating plant as
eases that are causing such an enor-
nous loss in the grain fields. In ad'
dition. well-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 oil
the year.
While rusts and smuts OF cereals
are perhaps the most widely dlstrlD-
uted and most harmful diseases Whlch
have been studied, there Is another
class of eases" which our plant doc
tors must now consider. These dis
eases are commonly called scabs,
willis, bllghts, and 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 SHUTS, by parasitic fungous
plants which get their nourishment
from our cultivated green plants.
Among the preVentable cereal dis
eases is the sinking 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 1t 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
kernel is broken, 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 one of
the seed treatments which have been
worked out and recommended for
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. 1t may be either
Sprayed on the grain or the grain may
be soaked in the solution. The fol-
lowing method OF treatment is recon-
mended by the Washington expert.
ment station:
Construct water-tight 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 dissolvng one pint Ia
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 long-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 off and destroyed. Leave
the grain in the solution about one
half hour. 1t may then be lifted out
and piled up on granary floor or on
the bottom of wagon box and COW
cred with moist sacks, where it is left
over night On the following morning
It will be ready to SOW. II 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
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 its
swollen condition by setting the drill
to SOW larger quantity per acre. ,
The oat smut, another destructive
disease. is widely distributed, some
fields having shown as high as 30
per cent OF smutted heads. Estimated
average annual loss is about two per
cent. of the crop. This smut is most
easily noticed 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
left fully exposed and are then soon
Fox God In Japan.
Hiet Takahashi the quaint son OF
Nippon, who attends William Jewell
,oIlooa and lahorsl hptimas in tho