98 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



THE MONTHLY BULLETIN 



CALIFORNIA STATE COMMISSION OF HORTICULTURE 



DEVOTED TO HORTICULTURE IN ITS BROADEST SENSE. WITH SPECIAL 



REFERENCE TO PLANT DISEASES, INSECT PESTS, AND 



THEIR CONTROL. 



Sent free to all citizens of the State of California. Offered in exchange for bulletins 

 of the Federal Government and experiment stations, entomological and mycological 

 journals, agricultural and horticultural papers, botanical and other publications of a 

 similar nature. 



A. J. Cook, State Commissioner of Horticulture Censor 



E. J. VosLER, Secretary State Commission of Horticulture Editor 



ASSOCIATK EDITORS. _ ^ . . 



Geo. p. Weldon Chief Deputy Commissioner 



Harry S Smith- Superintendent State Insectary 



FREDERICK Maskew_'__"-'- Chief Deput y Quarantine Officer 



Entered as second class matter December 29, 1911, at the post office at Sacramento, 

 California, under the act of July 16, 1894. 



What Are Good Seed Potatoes?— Interest in o-ood seed potatoes is 

 spreading throughout California and into the neighboring states. This 

 interest has been centered largely around the question of disease-free 

 seed and it is quite natural and essential that this should be the starting 

 point in considering the question of good seed stock for the potato 

 grower. While absolutely disease-free potato seed in any great quan- 

 tity is, perhaps, out of the question for some time to come, still it is an 

 ideal to be looked forward to and to be realized as nearly as possible. 

 Certainly good seed potatoes must be approximately free from disease 

 and every attention should be given the matter of securing seed potatoes 

 which are practically free from those diseases which affect the inside of 

 the tubers and, therefore, can not be reached by soaking the potatoes in 

 a solution which will kill the diseases, such as scab and Rhizoctonia, on 

 the outside of the tubers. Many growers are inquiring where disease- 

 free seed potatoes can be obtained and how they can be produced. 



To produce disease-free potatoes two things are absolutely neces- 

 sary disease-free seed to plant and disease-free soil in which to plant 



it ; and disease-free soil is perhaps the more important of the two. By 

 careful and proper attention in handling the seed to see that the diseases 

 on the outside of the tubers, such as scab and Rhizoctonia, are killed 

 by soaking the potatoes for two hours in a solution made by dissolving 

 four ounces of corrosive sublimate in thirty gallons of water, and by 

 discarding all tubers affected with wilt or other internal disease, fairly 

 clean seed potatoes can be obtained. But if these potatoes are planted 

 on land infected with these diseases, and practically all soil which has 

 produced potatoes for one or more years within the past five years is 

 likely to contain these diseases, then little headway will be made toward 

 producing a disease-free crop. Clean seed, then, should be planted in 

 clean soil, and those who wish to grow potatoes either for seed or 

 domestic use will do well to see that clean seed is put into their land. 



