Show corn cori JL JL smut saua will decrease Le crease Y i elds disease Is caused by certain type of germ belonging to molds the enlarged outgrowths growths out or galls which may now be seen on the torn corn Is ig smug smut according to IV E Br arentze entze bot botanist inist and plant pathologist at the north dakota agricultural college this trouble he says Is somewhat similar to wheat smut although different in many important respects corn smut never goes to wheat and wheat smut never goes to corn seed treatment will control covered smut of wheat but has no value inthe in the control of corn smut this disease to Is caused by a cerwin certain type of germ belonging to the class known as molds these germs may now be seen as aa a black powder falling from the corn smut galls they pass from one season into the next by wintering over in old diseased stalks sometimes in the soil and may also live in manure for several months during the summer while the corn Is growing the smut germs move about as dust in the winds and find lodging on the corn the funnel shaped pockets in the tops of corn find and the pockets at the base of the leaves collect dust tied water when the germs gerins or spores lodge in pockets containing moisture they begin to grow and in a short while form the smut ball which we now now see in the corn fields will grow on any part corn smut Is not particular about which part of the plant to grow on when the parasite attacks the ears cars the grain usually is a total loss when other parts of the plants are smutted such as the leaves tassels cassels tas sels silks and nodes the amount of loss Is hard to estimate often the plants are broken over sometimes by the excessive weight of the smut galls and sometimes by the weakening of parts where the smut growth comes out in one way or another smut Is causing heavy losses in some fields growers have asked whether silage made from these smutted ears and stalks will injure cattle it Is very true that these smut galls have tin nn ugly appearance and some may hesitate to feed them to a fine lot of cattle however so far as Is known corn smut has river never caused any disease or ill III effects when fed to cattle in experiments conducted by the experiment peri ment stations of south dakota kansas michigan and the united states department of agriculture cattle were fed corn smut in heavy amounts in no case was any injury lone done to the eattle resulting from tile the smut only known remedy the only remedy known to av avoid losses to the crop Is to destroy the nearby source of the disease for the next nest year in fields where this means of control Is impractical it Is necessary to rotate crops smut resistant corns have not been developed yet but plant breeders bleeders bre eders are having some success in this direction it Is s hoped that in the near future we may havo have developed a variety of corn which will resist smut |