Prevention of corn oats smut

Abstract

<p>Since the admirable experiments of Jensen in Denmark, Dr . J. C. Arthur, of Indiana,¹ and Profs. Kellerman and Swingle in Kansas,² there is no longer any doubt as to the advisability of treating to prevent oats smut and bunt of wheat with hot water. Kellerman and Swingle³ have shown that loose smut of wheat cannot be prevented by treating the seed. They also conducted a series of experiments to determine whether com smut can be prevented by treating the seed. Their results show that the treated contained as much smut as the check. The same year Pammel⁴ reported an experiment with corn in which the results were also of a negative character. This was in line with results of Brefeld’s⁵ investigations, but overlooked by the writer at that time. Brefeld’s work indicates that smut of corn can enter any merismatic or growing tissue.</p>