132 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



know to be of this character. Our agricultural literature now 

 shows the results of selective tests, especially as applied to corn 

 and wheat. Some work has even been done with the potato, 

 and we know that the unit with which to work is the hill raised 

 from a single tuber and not the tuber selected at random after it 

 reaches the potato pile. We now have our seed breeders' asso- 

 ciations for discussion and improvement of methods. The 

 work is reaching down to the farmer, who is beginning to apply 

 what has been learned so far. 



Third comes prevention of insect injuries and fungous 

 diseases. No one doubts that the potato in this State is severely 

 troubled by these pests and that the financial loss they cause 

 to the growers is far too great. Investigators have learned 

 considerable about the life histories of these parasites and some- 

 thing about methods for preventing their attack. The chief 

 questions now are whether these methods should be more 

 generally adopted by the potato grower and how practical are 

 they. I do not believe that the consistent use of preventive 

 measures against fungi will make any grower wealthy, but, on 

 the other hand, I think most persons are undercautious rather 

 than overcautious in this matter, and that in the long run intel- 

 ligent preventive measures will pay. It is under this thirti 

 phase of the question that I wish to indicate very briefly 

 what we know about the fungous pests of the potato in this 

 State and the methods that may be employed to lessen their 

 ravages. They are six in number. 



I. The Early Blight fungus produces subcircular, brown- 

 ish spots about a quarter of an inch in diameter or more ex- 

 tended and irregular areas at the margin of the leaf. The 

 trouble occurs from June on and, so far as has been found, only 

 on the leaves. My observations indicate that this is not so 

 serious in this State as some suppose and that it is often con- 

 fused with paris green burn or with tip burn. It may be pre- 

 vented by spraying with bordeaux mixture, but it does not 

 usually merit attempts at prevention. Paris green burn may 

 also show as a general searing of the margins of the leaf, 

 which dries up at the injured places. This injury to the foli- 

 age often becomes serious and is of too common occurrence in 

 the State. The damage results from sprinkli-ng or dusting the 

 foliage with pure paris green. A small amount of lime should 

 always be used with it, as this keeps it from going into solu- 



