SMUT

A disease incidental to corn crops, by which the farina of the grain in the whole body of the seed is converted into a black soot-like powder. If an ear of corn affected by this disease be smartly struck with the finger, the powder will be dispersed like that of the fungus known as Lycoperdon bonist a, the common puff-ball found in pastures, but darker; and if a portion of the powder be moistened and examined with the microscope, it will be found to consist of innumerable minute transparent globules. Some attribute the smut to the richne of the soil, and others consider it as a hereditary disease transmitted by one generation to another through the seed. Willdenow and Mirbel regard it as a small fungus; but Bauer believes it to be a proper disease, indicated by a morbid swelling of the ear. Some cultivators steep the grain of smutty corn in a weak solution of arsenic before sowing; but others deny the efficacy of this preparation. Smutty grain is separated from such as may be used for seed, or for grinding into flour, by being rapidly whirled round in a cylinder lined with brushes; or by steeping in water, when the smut from its lightne floats on the surface. The safest mode for the farmer to pursue is never to sow grain from a field in which the smut has prevailed. [s. 1138]