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

one advantage of the college sys
TEN over that of the government
appliance is hose attachment
which may be used for extinguishing
fires in the grain or near the ma
chine. The college machine also
throws the solution over the outside
OF the separator, thus eXtinguishing
any flames that may be started on
top of the separator through the ex-
plosion or otherwise, as well as in
side.
Previous to the demonstrations
DR.. Ira d. Cardiff, director of the
state experiment station, gave an in
structive and understandable talk
concerning the smut pest in general,
outlining the results of experiments
conducted on the station farm. DR..
Cardiff attributed the presence of
smut in large quantities in the Pa
louise country largely to it's spread
during the threshing season, when it
blows for great distances and settles
on the soil, 5000 to $4,000 of the
smut spores settling on every square
inch of surface. Every smut ball
contains 100000 of these spores,
and as soon as the ball is broken
many of the spores are carried away
by the wind. In case these spores,
which are classified as plants, find
no grain from which to draw their
food they die, but if they are
brought in contact with grain they
soon terminate and the damage is
done. AS an example of the wide
spread of these smut spores, DR.. Car
diff gave the results of observations
made on top of Kamiak butte, where
1900 of the spores to the square
inch were found.
Thus it is explained that wheat
seeded shortly after harvest time is
affected with smut to much great
er degree than that seeded early or
late, and DR.. Cardiff strongly advo-
Gated Farly or late seeding as a
means of combating the smut pest,
the results of eXperim entation on the
station farm proving the wisdom of
his contention.
Deep blowing of summer faIlow
ground will bury the smut spores to
such depth that but few of them
Will come in contact with the seed
grain, and by this means the smut
may be greatly reduced, even though
the sowing is done early in the fall
but the early or late sowing is
CLAIMED by the station head to be
the surer method. Another expert
ment conducted on the station farm
was to scatter straw over half a nIot
before it was seeded and burn the
straw. On the other half of the plot
the seeding was done without this
precaution The half on which the
straw had been burned. thus killing
the terminating power of the smut
shows only one per cent of smut,
while the grain on the other half is
20 or 80 per cent smut. This
method, however, is somewhat i'm
practical inasmuch as it is more ex-
pensive than the other and more
practical methods outlined. accord
ing to DR.. Cardiff.
A large number of the separator
tlres are caused by static electricity
and DR.. Cardiff urged that wires be
connected with the cylinders and
grounded, thus providing means of
carrying off the static electricity. He
also advocated the installation of a
blower in the separator, near the
cylinder, to keep the smut spores
from scattering broadcast.
The necessity of keeping the top
and sides of the separator free from
dust and smut accumulation was
Urged by DR.. Cardiff, who stated that
the hiring of an extra man to do this
work would in most cases prove a
good investment.
DR.. Cardiff is a big booster for the
fire eXtinguisher system, and stated
that every separator should be
equipped with one of the appliances.
The machine owner, he said, should
use fire precaution for his separator,
which is at best a great hazard, in
the same ratio as the manufacturing
plant or mill, where the possibility
of fire is less, but this has not been
done in the past.