The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-09-30
FOR
CONTROLLING SMUT
How to Prevent a Disease Which
Frequently Causes Serious Loss
TO Wheat Growers--Plant
Treated Seetl-Rotate
Crops.

Wheat growers in this country not
infrequently experience serious loss
es caused by preventable diseases.
Wheat is preyed upon by a number
of parasite fungi, three of which are
classes as smuts. Two of these smuts
are common pests in the wheat fields
of North America; the other, COM
monty known as flag smut, is thus
far unknown to this continent,
though it is fairly common in Aus
tralia and certain other parts of the
world where wheat culture has been
in progress for centuries.
OF the two smuts, bunt or covered
smut of wheat, sometimes referred
to as sinking smut, is found where
ever wheat is grown, sometimes re-
sulting in losses to the farmers of the
United States of $4,000, 900 or more
annually. Not infrequently fields
planted to untreated seed and giving
promise of yielding 80 to 40 bushels
per acre of good wheat will produce
a crop of covered smut amounting.
in some cases, to as much as 40 to 60
per cent of the crop.
This smut disease is caused by q
parasitic fungus which attacks the
growing wheat plant before the first
leaf appears above ground. Once in
side the attacked Seeding it contin-
ues its growth, and by the time the
wheat begins to head the diseased
plants produce crop of smut. If
we examine the heads of such plant
we find, instead of normal wheat
grains, only lot of smut balls. In
other words, the materials produced
by the living plant for the purpose OF
building up sound wheat grains have
been consumed by the parasite in
forming its masses of smut spores
which finally occupy the exact posi-
ton in the wheat heads that would
have been filled by the kernels had
they been allowed to develop. These
smut balls consist of nothing but mil
lions of spores inclosed in each case
by a thin enveloping membrane.
When the smut balls are crushed the
spores give off an ordor not unlike
that of herring brine. The liberated
spores become attached to the seed,
which, if planted without previous
treatment, may produce another crop
of smutted wheat.
Bunt or covered smut of wheat is
one of the most easily prevented OF
any of the cereal diseases. The fol
lowing procedure is recommended
Run all seed wheat through a fan
ming mill in order to blow out the
unbroken smut balls. This being
done, the grain should be soaked 1C
minutes in a solution consisting of
pound of commercial formalin (ob
tainable at nearly all drug stores
added to 40 gallons of water. The
seed thus treated is next allowed tt
drain and is then piled on the flool
until sufficiently dry to SOW. If dur
ing this process the kernels have
swollen very much, the drill shoult
be set to SOW little thicker, else th'
quantity sown per acre will be les
than was intended.
Recent experiments have showl
that in certain sections of the coun
try the soil of a field producing
crop of smutted wheat this year ma,
harbor enough smut spores to caus
smut in next years crop If the fell
be reseeded to wheat. This some
times occurs where smut is very bad
in spite of the planting OF treatet
seed, and shows that in such localitie
crop rotation should be practised il
addition to seed treatment. Bunt o
covered smut of wheat attacks n
other cereal crop, but other cereal
have their own smut diseases.
The other wheat smut occurring i
this country, known commonly a
loose smut, is not so serious as bun1
although it probably produces an a'
erage loss of three-fourths OF l pc
cent of the total wheat crop OF tn
country. Loose smut may be prevent
ed by treating the seed by the Jense
hot water method or some modifica
ton of it.
The Jensen method consists /
soaking the seed for 10 to Is minute
in hot water at temperature Of IL
to &23 degrees F. 1t is highly in
portant that the water shall not rls
over 1876 degrees or fall below IL
degrees F. A temperature below thl
will not kill the smut, while ten
perature too high may affect the gel
mination of the seed. The grain.
ter treatment, should be immediate
spread out to dry. If 1t can not b
spread at once, it should be dipped II