Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1916-08-11

some plots already in the shock, the
season for the observation of the re-
suits of different lines of expert
mentation on the big station farm
Just east Of the college campus is at
hand and visitors to the farm, who
are always welcome, will find much
OF interest, as we'll as a goodly edu-
cation in the fundamentals of farm
ing, good, bad and Indifferent, in the
hundreds of plots which are now
nearly ready to tell the various
stories for which they are intended.
To the uninitiated, and the man not
acquainted with the purpose of the
station in conducting the various ex-
periments, the experts might be
made to appear as poor farmers be-
cause of the poor stands of grains,
grasses or vegetables on some plots,
the presence of weeds in large guam
age of smut heads on other plots, or
the evident poor tillage on still other
parcels of land, but each of the many
hundreds OF plots has it's purpose.
The plot with its poor stand, It's
smutty grain, it's weeds, or it's poor
tillage is just as valuable from al
experimental standpoint as the plo1
with its magnificent stand of grain
or vegetation, and may even result in
more good to the farmer class, iii
whose interests the Investigations
are made.
One seasons results, on single
plot, is not sufficient to warrant
final conclusion on the part of the
station experts, but check plots of
the same experiment, and in many
cases investigations of a similar
nature conducted for several years,
are required before the result of any
particular test is taken as conclusive
and made public for the information
and education of the farmer and the
general public.
Among the more interesting pro-
jects of the 60 under investigation is
that concerning smut, and many diff
ferent phases of the smut question
are being studied One of these
experiments, and one which bids fair
to bring the station experts nearer
to a final solution of the big prob
lem, possibly, than any other, is that
which has to do with the effect of
smut which blows about the country
during the harvest season, and the
methods of combating it. For the
purpose of the experiment a tract of
virgin soil was selected, soil which
had never before grown wheat and
therefore could not possibly have be-
come inoculated with smut spores
through former crops. The tract
was divided into two separate plots
and wheat of the same variety, all
treated for smut, was sown on the
entire tract. which was in summer
fallow during the harvest season.
One-half of one tract was re-plowed
to good depth after the harvest
season, when the smut spores settled
on the soil, and sowed at the same
time as the other half, which was
only disked. The half which was
re-plowed now shows a magnificent
stand of grain, practically free from
smut, while the half which was only
dlsked has a stand of grain which
is at least 25 per cent smut This
experiment, the results of which are
the same as those of a similar expert
ment conducted last year, proves
that the smut spores which settle on
the soil can be buried to such
depth that they can not attack the
seed wheat when it sprouts by deep
blowing after harvest.
The results of the experiment con-
Quoted on the second plot in the
tract prove manifestly the conten-
ton of the experts that the smut
spores settle on the top of the soil
during the harvest season. For the
purpose of the experiment straw
was scattered over one-haIf the plot
before seeding and burned off, thus
destroying the smut spores, the other
half being seeded at the tame time
without any such precaution. The
half which was burned over produced
stand of wheat showing only one
per cent of smut, while the crop on
the other half is from 25 to 80 per
cent smutty.
Another interesting experiment in
connection with the smut investiga-
lions, the results of which can also
be plainly observed at this time. Is
that conducted for the purpose OF
ascertaining the effect on the yield
OF wheat by smut in different ouan-
titles. Red Russian wheat, probably
the most susceptible to smut, col.