The log cabin Democrat., 1917-02-27
MILLION BUSHELS
 OATS LOST IN 1916
Twsavo Per Cent Of crsp b osstreysd By Smut-Ths Best Rs@sdy
 10 FermailR.

 ing the last year and covering moro than one-half the counties h the state shows that smut caused the Ioss of 12 per cent of tho eat crop according to the report of J. Les Hewitt, Plant Pathologist with the University of Ar kansas. who says that there was little disease and loss where the seed had been treated with formalin before planting.
 Ten million bushes of oats wore produced in Arkansas in 1916. Twelve per cent of this crop. or 1900, 900 bushels were lost because of smut. The average yield for the state was 27 bushels per acre; consequently. three and one-fourth bushels per acre was the average loss. With oats at 40 cents bushel, tn average farm price, $1.56 was the average money loss per acre. By treating seed with formalin before planting with cost of about two cents per acre and the work, this enormous loss to the farm CTS of the state could have been avert
 
 see the value of the fomalin treatment and use it before planting the 1917 crop.
 Two Causes of Loose Smut.
 Loose smut may be caused by either of two fungi which are so similar that they may be considered as one in the treatment for smut The loss from smut is greater than is commonly sup posed for: 1. Smutty stalks are usual ly shorter than healthy ones and not easily observed 9 The boot some times hides the smutty heads which then appear only as immature or bar ren plants. B. Smut ripens several days before cutting, and may blow away. leaving the smutty stalks naked and not noticeable.
 Smut is a parasite plant that grows inside of and feeds upon the oat plant. Smut robs growing oat plants of nour- ishment and weakens them, some times so much that they cannot push their panicles or heads out of the sheath of the upper leaf.
 Threshins Machine Agent of Infection.
 The black masses of smut. seen when the grain is ripening. consist of countless numbers of spores. When the oats germinate and grow the smut spores germinate also The tiny smut plants penetrate and enter the oat plants. growing up within. There is nothing to indicate their presence until the heads form. At this time the oat kernels are filled with the smut. Sometimes only a part of the head is affected A part of all of the stalks from each stool may be attack ed. The threshing machine is the wholesale agent Of infection as crops practically free from smut may be- come infected by spores carried in the machine from an infected neigh boring field.
 To Prevent Smut
 1. Use seed oats free from smut. 2 Disinfect all sacks, bins. etc. with formaln. 5. Treat seed oats with for malin when there is any doubt of their being free from smut. One pound to forty gallons of water Is the same as one ounce to two and one-half gallons. Use this strength with the sprinkling method.
 FernaIin Treatment of Grain.
 Spread the grain in . layer three to four inches thick on a clean floor or canvas. With watering pot, sprinkle the grain thoroughly with the mixture of formalin and water When the grain is pretty wet all over, shovel it back and forth two or three times to get some of the mixture on every grain. Add moro of the mixture and shovel over until the grain Is quite vet but not wet enough to pack in the hand. Then shovel into pile and cover with empty sacks. Let stand for six to 12 hours. Spread out the grain and dry quickly and thoroughly. otherwise the grain may germinate which will in. 5ure it. Drying may be hastened by adding air slacked lime. It will take about one gallon of mixture for each bushel of grain. If the grain is sowed before thoroughly dried, allow about one peck to the bushel extra for the swelled condition of the grain Do not use more of less formalin than Is rec commended. Do not put treated grain into old. smutty sacks, bins or any place or receptacle not having been treated with formalin.
 A. Formalin treatment is for: I) Blunt or stinking smut of wheat. (2) All oak smuts. (3) Kernel smut of sorghum. (D Covered smut of bar ley. (5) Shuts of millet.
 B. Hot water treatment is for: C) Loose smut of wheat CD Head smut of barley.
 c. Seed treatment is useless, for. CD Corn smut. (2) Head hmut of