30 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



age is from fields inspected and passed by the Maine Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture." The tag is also signed by the inspector 

 making the third and final inspection of the seed. This final 

 inspection has been put in the hands of the Federal authorities 

 in cliarge of the 'powdery scab regulations and inspections. 

 The average increased price for sales of certified seed over 

 ordinary seed stocks has so far been between lo and 20 cents 

 per bushel. 



It should be a source of satisfaction to seed growers of Maine 

 to know that only one other state so far has ever taken up cer- 

 tification work. Wisconsin has this year inspected and certi- 

 fied 35,000 bushels of potatoes, while Maine has certified 45,000. 

 We have also inspected 100 acres of grain, and about 4,500 

 bushels of oats may be recommended as especially valuable for 

 seed purposes. 



The week of August ist it was my pleasure to spend in a 

 tour of the potato sections of Aroostook county as your rep- 

 resentative to the party composed of potato experts and pathol- 

 ogists from the Federal Department of Agriculture, from Vir- 

 ginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, and 

 the Maine Experiment Station. The most noted guests were 

 Geheimraith Dr. Otto Appel of Germany, one of the leading 

 experts of the world on potato diseases, and Dr. Giissow, the 

 Dominion Botanist of Canada, wlio was the first to discover 

 powdery scab on the American Continent. 



The party was entertained royally by the potato growers of 

 Aroostook. The trip, which was planned to take in all the large 

 potato sections in the United States, was for the purpose of 

 studying conditions of culture, disease and methods of hand- 

 ling, that the federal and state departments might better advise 

 the potato growers of the nation as to improvement in meth- 

 ods of culture, handling and oonubatting disease. Dr. Appel 

 stated that conditiottiis for potato growing were wonderful in 

 Aroostook, but that the growers should use greater care in 

 their seed or he could foretell a reduction in the yield and in 

 percentage of marketable tubers. He particularly warned of 

 the danger from Rhizoctonia, until within a few years a disease 

 unknown in Maine but already infesting nearly every field to 

 a greater or less extent. 



