[f. SMUT sb. 1.] A single grain of wheat or other cereal affected by smut or bunt; a cohesive body of smut.
1750. W. Ellis, Mod. Husb., IV. IV. 130 (E. D. S.).
a. 1761. S. Hales, in Mills, Pract. Husb., III. 128. The moisture that was equal to the weight of the smut-balls and smut that was washed from the wheat.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., April, 154. The grains were … rubbed between the hands, in such a manner as to break the whole of the smut balls.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 954. A longitudinal section of a smut-ball taken when the stamens are fully formed within the corolla.
1883. Good Words, Nov., 736/1. Bunt … is known by various names in different parts of the country, as smut-balls, bladder-brand, stinking-rust, &c.
