Smut ln Wheat.
Editors Indiana _ armer:
Would wheat, affected with smut, if
sown, produce smut in the next crop?
West Fork. J. M. F.
Smut, rust and other fungoid diseasea
of plants are propagated by millions of
very minute spores, and it would hardly
be possible for your seed wheat to be entirely free from them; especially is this
true if you refer to smut in the berry.
However, if you will soak the seed in
strong brine, skimming -off the grains
that rise to the top, and afterwards dust it
with air-slaked lime, you will be reasonably sure to avoid the reappearance of
smut. These fungous parasites are nearly
always attached to weak, unthrifty plants,
and therefore there is little fear of them if
the soil be good and the crop has a vigorous growth.
 .    a»    a	
How to Prevent Smut in 'Wheat.
Editors Indiana Farmer.
Numerous reports have been received at
the Experiment Station of losses in the
wheat crops by shvut. The matter is a serious one, and-farmers are beginning to
realize it, and wish to know how it can be
prevented.
There are two kinds of smut that destroy
wheat heads. The first form is known as
stinking smut, and while the seed head
does not change its form, the wheat
seeds become black, soft, stinking and are
ruined. The second form is loose smut.
The whole head turns black and to powder,
and falls away, leaving only a bare stem
where it was. In both cases this black
powder consists of countless minute
spores, which blow about and mingle with
the grain in threshing and then sprout
and grow in the wheat plant after it is
above the ground, finally blasting the
head. If these black spores, too small to
be seen by the by the naked eye, can be
destroyed before the seed is planted, no
smut will injure the wheat for harvest.
Experiments have been conducted at the
Purdue University Experiment Station,
for the purpose of preventing these diseases, and a result of the work here, the
following remedy is presented
For Stinking Smut. Fill a tub or half-
barrel about two-thirds full of water,
warmed up to 140 to 145 degrees temperature. Place a bushel of wheat seed in a
loose or thin sack, (say a coffee sack
and dip it into tbe iub and thoroughly work the • water in among
the seeds. Let the seed stand in this hot
water at Jeastfive minute3. The water
must not be allowed to get cooler than 130
degrees, and the nearer it is to 140 degrees
the more satisfactory the treatment. By
this method we have entirely prevented
the disease, while seed from the same
souroe, notjtreated, caused a large loss in
crop. The seed will dry in 24 hours if
spread on a barn floor, and occasionally
turrned. Or it can be dried in a short time
if mixed in land plaster or dry  road dust.
For Loose Smut. Our experiments only
enable us to suggest treatment for this disease the present year, which ia to dip the
seed as in treating above, only having the
water 10 degrees warmer (150 to 155 degrees).
We believe this treatment will largely prevent the smut occurring In the crop. Our
experiments have shown us that water at
135 degrees will not prevent the disease.
We hope our wheat farmers will try
these tests, and let us hear from them as
to the results. It is an Important matter.
The medicine costs nothing. The experiment takes but little time. If you are
farming for profit, you cannot afford to
plant contaminated seed wheat.
This station publishes its experimental
results, for the benefit of farmers, 7rom
time to time. A wheat bulletin will soon
be issued. Your name and post-office address will secure you these documents
-free-   Address C. S. Plumb,
-t-afayette, Ind. Director.
%txw gzptxxtmmt.
BY VINSON CASTS., BSQ., THIS CITT.
Question* _[oat Have Oeneral Application.
We must decline hereafter to reply to queries by-
mail. It was not our intention to open a free legal
bureau, as many seem to think, for tbe benefit of
private individuals, although subscribers. All we
can consistently do fs to give opinions on cases of a
general character, such as are likely to occur to citizens in any part of the State at any time, and the
answers to which will be generally useful. These
qnestlons should he stated es clearly and briefly as
possible.
If A and B disagree about a line of fence
aud each one builds his own fence, how
far from the line must each fence be?
F. P.
Just so that all of the fence of each is on
his own ground one inch off of the line
is enough.
A rents B's farm for five years, complying with terms promptly every year. Can
he hold B to the.end of term? Nothing
is recorded. " W. B..B.
Ii the lease is in writing we answer yes,
but in case B should sell, his grantee
would not be bound by the lease.
Has a notary jurisdiction in any county
in the State other than the one for which
he was commissioned and  filed his bond?
I.N. R.
Yes, he has jurisdiction throughout the
State, but in his certificate he must state
the county in which he was commissioned.
When is the best time to apply fertilizers,
spring oi fall? What is best fertilizer for
clay soil? C. V. Hooveb.
Carroll Co.
Quick or "complete" fertilizers shonld
be put in with the crop; stable manure at
any time, provided care is taken to turn
it nnder or harrow into the soil before the
ammonia evaporates. In the East farmers
haul manure from the cities at all times
when not otherwise busy. Clay soil, like
any other, should have such fertilizer as
will replace elements in which it may be
deficient. The fact that your soil contains a
great deal of clay does not necessarily pro ve
that it is poor. However,thick dressings of
stable manure on clay are always good, as
the tendency of so great a bulk of vegetable matter is to make the soil loamy and
friable.
On February 13th last A hired B for one
year, with privilege of Sunday off. Wages
-$16_; per month. Monday July 13th, 1891,
B asked A for his time, on account of disagreement. Out of the four months, 25
days (Sundays counted out) B worked 21
days.
1. Can A hold back $10 for B missing
Sunday evening milking, A keeping a
dairy?
2. There being no written contract between A and B, can A Bold B until February 13tb,1892?
3. Can A hold $10 out of B's wages for
missing Sunday?
4. Can he charge B at the rate of $16%
a month until B sends a hand to take his
"place?
5. Can A hold the remaining wages, or
wages he could not pay at time of settlement until the first of August?      C. H.
1. No.
2. No.
3. No.
4. No.
5. No.
C&etieral Hews.
It is feared that the cotton worm will do
great damage in parts of Alabama and
Mississippi.
"Vesuvius has again burst forth in eruption. The lava has now reached the village of Rio DelCavallo.
According to latest ^reports the present
year will be the most prosperous ever
known to Kansas farmers.
At Creston, O., Friday evening, Miss
Lanie BUlman attempted to rescue her sister's child from in front of a train, and
was herself run over and killed.
Wheat threshing is in full blast near
Hillsboro, 111. One field of 20 acres yielded
an average of 40 bushels per acre another
piece of fifty acres averaged 34 bushels per
acre.
Ulysses Parcell, an active young ^farmer
near Casey, 111., was seriously gored by a
bull he was trying to manage. It is feared
his injuries, which are internal, will prove
fatal.
Two clouds met over Williamsport, Pa.,
and the town was inundated. Many
houses were blown down and several persons were hurt. The storm was fortunately confined to a limited area.
Maj. K. Hurst, of the Kansas Live Stock
Commission, has prepared a statement, in
which he says the people of Kansas will
send out $100,000,000 worth of stock and
farm products raised this year.
Reports from Hillsboro, 111., are to the
effect that cattle in that vicinity are suffering from a fatal disease. The mouth
gets sore, the legs become swollen and
stiff, and the animals die of starvation.
Potter Co., Penn., is alarmed over the
ravages of a worm that is destroying the
foliage and killing the hemlock timber.
The trets look as though they had gone
through a forest fire or had withered up.
It is reported that France, as a mark of
friendship for Russia, will largely reduce
the tariff on Russian products and will impose a prohibitory duty on Indian corn in
order to encourage the importation of Russian corn.
Mr. and Mrs. Moschenroon?, living
about four miles northeast of Newton, 111.,
celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. At the table were seven children,
thirty-four grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.
Herders and farmers in the vicinity of
Sumner, 111., are becoming greatly
alarmed over the death of so many cattle
with a disease unknown and uncommon
in that region. Over a hundred cattle
died in a range of six miles south of the
city last week.
William Elliot, an old and prominent
itizen of Steuben county, Saturday
droppec* dead from heart disease at his
home on Walnut Ridge. ,
While Mrs. Augustadt, widow, near
Tipton, was endeavoring to rescue a pig
which was fast in a fence, she was attacked
by the mother and badly injured. One
thumb was torn off.
M&U flews.
Mrs. Louisa Blacketter, aged seventy-
eight, one of the pioneer ladies of Bartholomew county, died on July 28.
August Fledderman, of Haymond, while
feeding a thrasher, caught his hand in the
cylinder, and he lost his arm at the elbow.
The Stotenbergs will ship not less than
30,000 bushels of peaches from-their Clark-
county orchards during the present season.
Charles J. Roe, one of the wealthiest
men in Shelby county, died of heart disease. He was aged seventy-two and a
bachelor.
Louis Dixon, of Jackson county, overheated from thrashing wheat, while bathing in the river was seiz9d with cramps
and drowned.
J. R. Huffman, of Spencer, purchased a
costly flock of sheep, but within a few
days all of them were either crippled or
killed by dogs.
Allen county farmers say that the grasshoppers are seriously injuring the crops,
particularly oats, and that they will soon
get into the clover.
Miss Mary Flick, of Orange county, celebrated her one-hundred-and-fifth birthday on July 1G. She is blind, but still able
to be about, as the country people say.
James R. Godfrey, one of the last living
direct descendants of the Miami tribe of
Indians, is lying at the point of death on
his farm near Fort Wayne. He was born
at Peru in 1810, and is the son of Chief
Francis Godtrey.
The Columbian Dairy Meeting.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
The association met at the Sherman
House Chicago and by invitation the representatives of a number of State Dairy
Association and of various breeds of cattle, were with them. The State Dairyman's Associations was represented by the
president, M. Plumb, vice president, Mr.
Jenkins, and secretary Mrs. Worley.
The object of the meeting was* to decide
on the details of the working dairy and
experiment tests of the World's Fair in
1893.   This work will be done by reorganized authorities of national representation
using tbe most  approved appliances,   in
order that the  results  obtained  may be *
positive and above dispute.   Mr. Buchanan has made  most  generous  allowances
for the work. The buildings are furnished
and feed—the  owners of cattle furnishing attendance.   There are to be a number
of  breeds  represented    not    under    25
cows    of    each    breed   nor     over    50.
The products of the dairy are to belong to
the fair and is to be  sold  to partially pay
expenses.   The entire  product of the cow
is to be taken into  consideration even her
increase in weight.   There is to be a daily
test and a six months test or rather four as
two months  are allowed  for the cattle to
become accustomed to  their new quarters
and sourroundings.   Premiums  are  also
to be given for  one  day  tests  one week
tests and one  month.   All  the  details of
stabling, feeding and care of cattle will be
shown as well as  butter  and cheese making   practically  taught.   Both  chemical
and  churn  tests   will  be  used  by  the
the  chemical    is  the  ultimatum.     The
milk  will  also  ba   tested  for   the  best
results for food.   The  importance of this
will be appreciated when it is known that
in an eastern city out  of the four millions
of gallons of milk tested  cue million was
thrown out—and  the year after  this test
was made the death rate  among children
decreased ono fourth—one  child in three
a victim to impure milk.
L4U-A D. Worley.
Bad News for Bugs.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
A small brown mite ( Uropoda Americana) has appeared in the Experiment Station gardens, and to all appearances.has
nearly exterminated the striped cucumber
beetle. There is here an abundance of
these mites, and I have sent material to
localities in several States in order to determine the possibility of colonizing them
in localities where the striped cucumber'
beetle is abundant, with the view of destroying the pest.
If gardeners and others will apply at
once, we will send a supply of mites,
which are to be turned loose among infested vines, and the results are to be carefully watched and reported. These mites
also attack and .destroy the Colorado
potato beetle.
I shall be much pleased to have the cooperation of farmers and gardeners in testing the value of this mite, as a parasite,
and the practicability of extending its usefulness. F. M. Webster,
Columbus, O.                   Entomologist.
 . ^ . ,—.
Union Picnic.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
There will be a union picnic given by
Ben Davis Lodge, F. M. B. A., August 19,
1891, at Ben Davis, Ind., in Minnemey*er 's
grove. Everybody invited, good speakers.
Come and show that the farmers mean
business. W. H. Flagg, Sec'y.