Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1915-10-27
Botanist of Clemson College
Gives Simple Preventive
of Grain Disease.
FOROATSAND WHEAT SEED
Formalin Solution Applied to Small
Grain Before Planting Kills Spores
of Smut Without Injury to GernlI'
mating Powers.

Smut is the most widespread and
destructive disease of small grain and
ft occurs wherever oats and wheat are
grown. When proper control meth
ods are not practiced, it frequently
causes serious loss. Fortunately, 1t is
not hard to prevent this disease. In
iormalin we have an easily obtalnable
preparation that does the work ef1'
ciently. Before sowing oats or wheat,
farmers should treat the seed with
formalin solution to prevent smut.
Smut is caused by a parasitic
growth that lives in the tissues of the
plant. The disease spreads by spores
(very small, seed like bodies} which
cling to the hulls or lodge in the
creases of individual oat or wheat
grains and are thus carried into
field with the seed. The spores germi-
nate al about the same time that the
plants come up and the disease grows
directly into the tissue of the young
plaIt.
Smut lives in plants apparently
without doing serious damage until
the plants begin to head out. Then
the disease concentrates its efforts in
the heads and black, sooty masses OF
spores fill the places where grain
should form AS these masses break
up, the spores are scattered over the
field by wind. Many lodge in grains
on healthy Leads of oats or wheat and
remain alive there until the seed are
planted again. Some remain in the
diseased heads and are carried to the
thresher. In threshing, the smut
spores are scattered everywhere and
many find resting places in healthy
grains.
Oat CIR wheat smut can be controlled
by soaking the plafting seed in
chemical solution that will kill the
smut spores in the seed without injur-
ing the terminating powers OF the
seed. The best chemical to use for
this is scrmalin, which is 40 per cent
solution of formaldehyde. It may be
procured from any reliable druggist.
Treatment with it is made as follows:
Make, up the fcrmalin solution by
mixing one pint formalin (40 percent
solution Of formaldehyde) with 40 gal
Ions water. Sack the grain to be
treated about bushel to sack. Dip
each sack Of grain into the barrel of
solution and let it remain there for
from five to ten minutes, moving the
sack up and down several times. to
make sure that all the grains are thor
oughly wet. Finally, lift the sack and
let the solution drain out, after which
either pile the bags of treated grain
together and cover with bagging or
canvas, or pour the treated grain into
g pie on a clean floor and cover with
bagging or canvas. Leave the grain
covered thus for from II to "a hours.
AS last step, spread the grain thinly
over a clean floor to dry.
= The grain seed should be dried as
rapidly as possible to prevent sprout-
ing. Naturally, grain khus treated
should be put in clean bins or sacks
so as not to be again exposed to the
disease. Sacks and bins that have
contained diseased grain may be dis
infected Dy washing with a formalin
solution made of one pint formalin to
10 gallons water.
H. w. BARRE,
Professor of Botany,
!. Clemson Agricultural College.