Effects of the Modified Hot-water Treatment on Germination, Growth, and Yield of Wheat »

The loose smut of wheat (Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Jens.) (PI. 1), according to estimates compiled in the Plant Disease Bulletin 3 for the years 1917 to 1921, inclusive, caused an average annual loss to farmers of the United States amounting to more than 11,000,000 bushels. Recommendations for control of this disease in this country have been confined to treatment of the seed by the modified hotwater method. In comparison with other standard cerealrseed treatments, however, this method is considerably more tedious to apply and also requires more labor and equipment, facts which doubtless help to explain why its adoption by the individual farmer has been limited. In 1918, R. G. East, county agricultural agent in Shelby County, Ind., in an attempt to make the modified hot water treatment more practicable, established a central or community seedtreatment plant at Shelbyville, Ind. The Division of Botany, Department of Agricultural Extension, of Purdue University, the Office of Cereal Investigations of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the Farmer's Association of Shelby County, Ind., cooperated with Mr. East in this endeavor. The community system became instantly popular and within two years, according to Pipal (10), 20 plants were operating in Indiana. A few plants also were in use in Virginia. Pipal (10) has described the community system employed in Indiana, where two types of treating plant are used. One type operates in connection with a creamery, cannery, mill, or other establishment where a supply of live steam and suitable tanks are available. Here the farmers bring their grain and treat it in small quantities in sacks. The other type employs a special treating drum and tank for administering the 10-minute treatment, a devifce first used in 1918 by R. G. East. The drum is built of heavy, small-meshed wire or perforated sheet iron .and is large enough to accommodate five bushels of soaked grain. It is equipped with a hoisting device operated by hand or motor. A crank also is provided to revolve the drum when it is lowered into the water. As it turns, the wheat tumbles over, thus insuring its uniform contact with the hot water. Following the treatment, the grain is spread out to cool; later it is resacked and returned to the farmer. In order to defray the expenses of the community plant