THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 523 



and devotion to the work that they will pnsh its interests even though 

 it presses hard upon their own time and business. Our great state, 

 an empire in itself, makes this difficulty even more aggravated. Can 

 the interest of the many and the devotion of the leaders be counted 

 on? The agricultural society would be greater and correspondingly 

 harder to establish and develop to the desired point of usefulness and 

 excellence. 



Another plan is to join the Farmers' Protective League with the 

 State Connnission of Horticulture in carrying forward this work. The 

 conventions would go on as at present; the work looking to marketing, 

 legislation, etc., could be carried forward by the league. The great 

 work performed by the Citrus Protective League in the south and the 

 services Avrought by the new organization in the north in its short 

 life would argue in favor of utilizing the league. 



The convention passed a resolution that a committee be appointed 

 by the State Commissioner of Horticulture, of which he should be a 

 member, to take the matter under advisement and to report a plan 

 in detail at the Forty-sixth State Fruit Growers' Convention at Stan- 

 ford University next July. The committee appointed is as follows: 

 ]\ressrs. H. J. Webber, C. B. INIessenger, H. E. Van Norman, Geo. H. 

 Hecke, F. B. McKevitt and A. J. Cook.— A. J. C. 



The Potato Session of the Convention at Los Angeles. — The large 

 attendance, rapt attention and animated discussions at the potato 

 session of the convention at the hotel parlors Tuesday afternoon 

 proved that no mistake was made in devoting one half day to the 

 potato industry 



Mr. E. II. Phreaner, who. might be called the "Potato King" of 

 El Dorado County, spoke wise and timely words on the cultural phase 

 of the subject. What gives added weight to Mr. Phreaner 's talk is 

 the fact that he does all and more than he says as to cultivation. By 

 deep and frequent cultivation he insures moisture, aerates the soil and 

 prevents weeds from robI)ing his tubers. He never permits his pota- 

 toes to suffer from want of water. Very few in California use fertilizer 

 as lavishly as does Ur. Phreaner. The thrifty, vigorous, luxuriant 

 vines, no less than fourteen or fifteen large, fine tubers to each hill, 

 prove that the potatoes appreciate such treatment. Mr. Phreaner will 

 practice a long rotation, thus hoping to keep his land free from germs 

 and other pests that would reduce the production of first-class tubers. 

 He believes that two hundred and fifty or three hundred sacks of 

 potatoes per acre will only come when every detail of first-class cultiva- 

 tion is observed. Even sprouting must always be practiced, as this wall 

 increase production and hasten development, thus paying richly for 

 added labor and pains. 



Mr. W. V. Shear of the United States Department of Agriculture 

 urged that only disease-free seed should be planted, treating the 

 same with corrosive sublimate, 1-1000, to destroy the germs of scab 

 and Rhizoctonia which might possibly escape the notice of even the 

 most vigilant inspection. Stem wilt, Fusarium, is even more destruc- 

 tive than scab and as serious as Rhizoctonia, and can only be eliminated 

 by planting clean, sound seed in a clean soil. If all the vines keep 

 fresh and sound to the very close of the season we may be pretty sure 

 that the wilt fungus is not present. 



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