Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1916-01-14

of seed wheat after 1t has beon
treated, blue vitriol is somewhat SUI
perior to formaldehyde. II it is
merely question of destroying
| seed-born smut spores, the seed later
to be planted in smut-free ground, it
is doubtful if there is much differ
ence in the efficiency of the two
treatments. For the general run of
western conditions, blue vitriol seems
to have some superiority.
With the present knowledge of the
life and habits of the smut spore the
Wheat grower is able to summarize
his advantages over the enemy. 1t
has been suggested that the smut
spores might be trapped at harvest
time. Last fall, several farmers sue
| ceeded in putting a blower" device
on their separators These devices
carried the smut dust or spores
away from the separator before they
had disseminated through the sep
arator sufficiently to ignite and ex-
plode. 1t is but further step, sug-
gests DR.. Head, to trap and destroy
the smut as discharged from the
blower.
Assuming, then, that most of the
smut spores liberated during thresh-
ms are trapped and destroyed, the
farmer has remaining, many smut
balls and smut heads, in the stubble.
Hfe should drag the field, roll it, or
harrow it, using any device which
brushes the smut balls and m ixes the
smut with the soil.
Soil tf high temperature is not
good 1cr the smut spores. Soil of
low temperature is likewise uncoa-
genial. The farmer, therefore, may
SOW his seed y heat early, latterlJ n
August for example, and put the
SMUT spores to u disadvantage.
Or, il he can not SOW in August.
he can outgeneral the smut by plant.
ing ate in the fall after the gerr'ina-
tlon and death of the nd-dissemat-
ed spores and when the soil ~ too
cold for the comfort of the few sur
vivors.
If he can not sow in August, or
late in the fall, third recourse may
be to re-plow the smut-sown su nmer
fallow before planting the fall
wheat, burying the EMBELLISHMENTS
ed smut beyond reach of the young
wheat plants.
Stubble that remains unplowed
and unsown until spring, and which
contains unbroken smut balls and
smusied heads should be given early
spring cultivation planned to crush
the smut balls and mix the smut
with moist, loose earth. Crushing
the smut balls and burying the smut
i'll moist, loose earth results in the
termination and destruction of the
smut-unless it finds a host plant.
Crushing the smut balls and burying
the smut in dry earth results in car
rying many separated smut spores
over till the fall sowing, when they
may attack the sprouting wheat.
Early spring cultivation is there
fore a necessity.
Dry summer following is very eff
ftcient method of conserving smut in
the soil in readiness for the fall SOW
ing.
The work of the pathologist
showed that single-cropping to wheat
encourages smut; that a rotation of
crops discourages it. Good results
from wheat-oats-sum mer fallow
rotation were observed.
The necessity of well-cleaned and
treated seed that is clean to begin
with is not lost sight of. DR.. Head
suggests that if farmers can not fol-
low plan of rotation in their en-
tire wheat farming operations, that
they reserve certain fields for rota-
tive farming, taking their seed from
such fields.