seed for future planting. Try it if you
have any smut.

[Illustration: FIG. 122. A CROP FROM OATS TREATED WITH FORMALIN]

Fig. 122 illustrates what may be gained by using seeds treated to
prevent smut. The annual loss to the farmers of the United States from
smut on oats amounts to several millions of dollars. All that is needed
to prevent this loss is a little care in the treatment of seed and a
proper rotation of crops.

=EXERCISE=

Count the smutted heads on a patch three feet square and estimate
the percentage of smut in all the wheat and oat fields near your
home. On which is it most abundant? Do you know of any fields that
have been treated for smut? If so, look for smut in these fields.
Ask how they were treated. Do you know of any one who uses
bluestone for wheat smut? Can oats be treated with bluestone?

At planting time get an ounce of formalin at your drug store or
from the state experiment station. Mix this with three gallons of
water. This amount will treat three bushels of seeds. Spread the
seeds thinly on the barn floor and sprinkle them with the mixture,
being careful that all the seeds are thoroughly moistened. Cover
closely with blankets for a few hours and plant very soon after
treatment. Try this and estimate the per cent of smut at next
harvest-time. Write to your experiment station for a bulletin on
smut treatment.

[Illustration: FIG. 123. A SCABBY SEED POTATO]

[Illustration: FIG. 124. A HEALTHY SEED POTATO]

=Potato Scab.= The scab of the white, or Irish, potato is one of the
commonest and at the same time most easily prevented of plant diseases.
Yet this disease diminishes the profits of the potato-grower very
materially. Fig. 123 shows a very scabby potato, while Fig. 124
represents a healthy one. This scab is caused by a fungous growth on the
surface of the potato. Of course it lessens the selling-price of the
potatoes. If seed potatoes be treated to a bath of formalin just before
they are planted, the formalin will kill the fungi on the potatoes and
greatly diminish the amount of scab at the next harvest. Therefore
before they are planted, seed potatoes should be soaked in a weak
solution of formalin for about two hours. One-half pint of formalin to
fifteen gallons of water makes a proper solution.

[Illustration: FIG. 125
From a scabby potato, like the one in Fig. 123, this yield was obtained]

[I