550 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



I believe are the foremost practical potato growers in the United 

 States. The reason for this is, I believe, that these men have 

 made a thorough study of their business from all points of view. 

 They do not fail to make use of every scrap of scientific or 

 practical information they can obtain so far as it is applicable 

 to their conditions. By careful selection and attention to other 

 details they have largely eliminated disease and low-producing 

 strains in their stock. They have been selecting their seed from 

 high producing hills and propagating it for their own use. Each 

 year they plant a field of this selected seed from which to grow 

 the seed for their main crop the next year. For their conditions 

 they think whole seed tubers are the best. Therefore, on this 

 seed plot they crowd the potatoes very closely together in order 

 to get a large number of small tubers. 



The first picture shows a single hill (lo tubers) of Peach 

 Blow potatoes raised under these conditions for seed purposes. 

 The second, a hill of Russet Burbanks weighing 7 J pounds, the 

 tuber at the top showing the type of the original seed planted. 

 In the next picture at the left is a hill of Comet potatoes, weigh- 

 ing 4 J pounds ; next, three hills of People's weighing 12 J pounds ; 

 next, the hill of Peach Blow seed shown in the first picture; 

 next, the Burbank hill shown in the second picture. The row of 

 potatoes on the extreme right are Gold Coins, 4^ pounds to the 

 hill. 



BLACKLEG. 



Now, coming back to our subject of Maine potato diseases, 

 the first picture shows a potato plant aft'ected by blackleg. Note 

 the conspicuous blackening of the base of the stem extending 

 from the point where it joins the seed piece up just above the 

 surface of the ground ; also the tendency of the foliage to grow 

 upward rather than to spread out in a normal way. These, taken 

 with the fact that the plants are often stunted, usually a lighter 

 green or yellowish, are important characteristics of the disease. 



The next picture shows another plant affected by the same 

 trouble. With the blackleg disease, and certain others which 

 injure or destroy the parts below ground, there is a tendency to 

 produce aerial tubers or tuber-like outgrowths in the axils of 

 the leaves above ground, as shown by the next illustration. 



