54 Bulletiiz. No. 155
Smarts of Wheat. · `
There are two smuts aHecting wheat, the loose smut,
when the affected heads are commonly spoken of as
» "blasted" heads, and the stinking smut. The former is the
more common', and the latter by far the more destructive.
‘ Stivtlcmg Smut.
The life histories of these two smuts are quite similar up to
a certain stage. In the case of the stinking smut the spores
cling to the outside of. the sound wheat grains and when
the wheat is planted and germinates, the spores germinate
and send out slender colorless threads. These threads find
entrance into the young plant by growing into the sprout,
and as the plant grows the threads increase and branch, and .
are always to be found in the growing part of the plant.
When the wheat heads out in preparation for seed produc-
tion, the smut threads occupy the head or spike, rapidly
` increase and finally break up into small pieces, each piece
forming a spore. The masses of these spores occupy the
space normally occupied by the wheat grains, and as the
chaff is not affected, it is not easy, unless the head is closely
examined, to detect the smut. Upon close examination,
however, the head will be noticed to be light and to keep an
upright position. The chaff has apeculiar appearance, being
looser and more spread out. If any quantity is present
, the odor coming from the field always tells of its presence.
The covering of the smut masses is quite firm and these
masses have a shape and size not unlike grains of wheat,
but are shorter and more blunt. They crush easily and in
threshing are broken up and the sound wheat becomes
covered by the spores; then when the wheat is planted, the
spores are ready to germinate and infest the young wheat
plant.
Besides the direct loss due to the smutted heads, which
may be very considerable, the strong, disagreeable odor of
the smut is imparted to the wheat, rendering it unfit for
milling until thoroughly cleaned and scoured. This extra