A STUDY OF THE GERMINATION OF BARLEY SEED TREATED TO CONTROL LOOSE SMUT
Tests of barley seed treated by the water-soak and the Spergon method to control loose smut (Ustilago nuda (Jens.) Rostr.) have shown that both treatments reduce germination, the Spergon treatment being the more injurious of the two. A part of the reduction may be due to an induced dormancy, but usually the ungerminated seeds are dead.Varieties of barley vary greatly in susceptibility to injury from treatment, but an equally great variation may occur among different lots of seed of the same variety. Susceptibility to the water-soak treatment is closely correlated with susceptibility to the Spergon treatment. Treatment with Ceresan M improves germination and there is a correlation between improvement by this treatment and reduction in germination caused by the water-soak or the Spergon treatment.Treatment of barley seed by the water-soak and Spergon methods destroys a part of the Alternaria contaminant usually present in such seed, but has less effect on it than Ceresan M. Treatment of the seed by the anaerobic-incubation method as used in this study had scarcely any suppressive effect on Alternaria.