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Show SLANTING GRAIN ON SMUTTY ; WHfEAT LAND. ' . . Basalt, lcto., 2, 2j,'oS. Jfcditfjr.Descrct. Farmer: Will you please answer the following question ques-tion Will it do to. plant grain on land thatgrcw smutty, wheat last reason? 1 have a piece of wheat .land. Therefore There-fore will you kindly tell me whether or not .1 could grow grain on the same land the coming season, that would 'be free from smut, providing I treated the seed properly? ... EDW..M. WEBB. . Answer by Prof. J. C. Hogcn'son, A. C. U. If you sow perfectly clean seed or if the seed is properly treated with formalin before sowing there is no danger of the resulting crop being smutty. Smut infection is caused by smutty seed not by smut spores that 1 have fallen to the ground, especially if they "have laid there over winter. Smut plants attack the grain plants only when the seed germinates and tlve young plantlet is first pushed into the soil. If the smut spores ore sown with the grain this condition will exist as many of the smut spores will germinate at the same time as the wheat setd. When smut spores have fallen to the ground and remain there for some time before the wheat is sown there is practically no chance for both the wheat and smut to germinate ger-minate at the same time which is the only conditibn under which the crop will become infected. o |