WABT DISEASE OP THE POTATO. 5, 



■ M. C. Potter ((jrardciiinj:^, 1908): "From all accounts the disease is 

 spreadiuo- ra[>idly in the infested areas and the amount of damaj^e is 

 yearly inci"casin(^. * * * In certain allotments * * * it has 

 been found impossible to ^a-ow potatoes.'' 



John Percival (1901t): " Potato wart has al read}" become a serious 

 trouble in many districts in this country, and it is likely to develop 

 into the worst pest with which the grower will have to deal unless 

 vigorous measures are adopted to stamp it out.'' 



T. Johnson (1909): ''It needs onlv a ver}" casual acquaintance with 

 the facts of the case in the British Isles from tlie time of the discovery 

 of the trouble by Potter in 1902 to the present time to warn one of 

 the necessity of taking all possible steps to stamp out a disease which 

 may become as serious as ordinary leaf-blight and less amenable to 

 treatment. * * * It is now found in man}" districts in England, 

 Wales, and Scotland. It is often so pronounced as to destroy the 

 whole crop, and it is not confined to garden plots. Warty tubers are 

 naturally poorer in food matter than liealthy ones, and when not 

 destroyed in the field do not keep well in store. They ought to be 

 destroyed as soon astound, and on no account saved for seed." 



The Gardeners' Chronicle, 1908: "This disease * * * is excit- 

 ing some alarm in Germany, where it is said to be spreading. It 

 appears to have been recognized as of local occurrence for some time 

 in the neighborhood of Diisseldorf, Elberfeld. * * * During this 

 season it has proved so injurious as to have entirely destroyed the crop 

 in many gardens where potatoes have been raised year by year." 



Dr. O. Appel (1908), on the other liand, says: ''According to reports 

 of Spieckermann, Schneider, and rJosting. who have observed it this 

 year in Germany, the disease is not of economic importance." 



The British Board of Agriculture and Fisheries made it a notifiable 

 disease in 1907 under the Destructive Insects and Pests Acts, 1877- 

 1907. The following report (Gardeners' Chronicle, 1909) was made: 

 "The board of agriculture and fisheries desire to notify that 244 

 cases of wart disease or black scab in this year's potato crop had been 

 reported to them up to October 3. These cases have occurred in the 

 following counties: Shi'opshire, 60; Stafiordshire, 57; Lancashire, 50; 

 Cheshire, 30; Warwickshire, 25; Worcestershire and Leicestershire, 4 

 each; Derbyshire, 3; Merioneth, 2; and 1 each in Perthshire, Stirling- 

 shire, Dumfrieshire, Cumberland, Nottingham, Berkshire, Flintshire, 

 Brecanshire, and Glamorgan. A few cases among field crops have been 

 found in the counties in which the disease is most common, l)ut in the 

 great majority of cases the disease has occurred on allotments or in 

 gardens in which potatoes are constantly grown * * *. The dis- 

 ease has been known in certain districts for ten to fifteen years, and 

 as growers have taken no steps to check its progress, it is now causing 



irir. 51'] 



