GOLDEN NEMATODE—POPHAM 
tive of what may be expected in this 
country eventually if the golden 
nematode is permitted to spread 
unchecked. 
Potato-root Eelworm (Golden Nematode) 
Has Spread Rapidly in England 
Information obtained in conferences 
with more than 40 scientists, farm 
advisers, farm managers, and farm 
foremen in England, Ireland, and 
Holland indicated that the more im- 
portant factors contributing to the 
spread of the golden nematode were 
(a) using potatoes produced on in- 
fested soil for seed, (b) moving trans- 
plants from infested soil to other fields, 
(c) using the same farm implements 
and containers interchangeably in 
infested and noninfested fields, (d) 
soil drifting from infested to non- 
infested fields, and (e) the careless 
disposal of containers used in handling 
culinary potatoes grown on infested 
lands. 
It was learned that the golden nema- 
tode, or potato-root eelworm as it is 
commonly called in Europe, is preva- 
lent in 65 to 75 percent of the fields 
in the more important potato-growing 
areas of England. It is reported to 
occur wherever potatoes are grown 
commercially in Scotland. In north- 
ern Ireland the parasite is not widely 
distributed. However, some 300 acres 
known to be infested at that time had 
been taken out of potato and tomato 
culture by the Ministry of Agriculture 
which has authority to remove from 
production promptly any fields de- 
termined to be infested, even when 
such action involves destruction of a 
crop. A similar situation exists in 
Holland. Only limited areas are re- 
ported to be infested and these have 
been dealt with drastically. Both 
Holland and northern Ireland have 
undertaken to protect export seed 
industries which are based to an im- 
portant degree upon certification that 
the potatoes are grown on eelworm-free 
soil. 
351 
Golden Nematode Now Recognized as 
Major Pest in Europe 
Research on the potato-root eel- 
worm in recent years has been inten- 
sified in Europe owing to the extensive 
damage that is now attributed to it. 
In talking with research workers at 
St. Albans, Cambridge, and Leeds, in 
England, and at various points in 
Holland it was learned that European 
investigators were primarily con- 
cerned with (a) a search for a fumi- 
gant which would effectively and eco- 
nomically reduce the eelworm popu- 
lation in an infested field to a level 
where potatoes or tomatoes could be 
grown profitably, (b) a search for 
resistant host material, (c) asearch for a 
synthetic which would stimulate hatch- 
ing of the larvae in the absence of host 
material, thus shortening the host-free 
period required to suppress or eradi- 
cate the parasite, (d) a search for 
chemicals having a retarding effect on 
cyst development, and (e) the exten- 
sion of a publicly provided soil-exami- 
nation service undertaken during the 
war to indicate fields in which the cyst 
count was at a sufficiently low level to 
insure a profitable crop of potatoes. 
Because the golden nematode has 
become so widely distributed in Eng- 
land most investigators there were 
concerned more with ways of growing 
potatoes in competition with it than in 
developing practical methods for erad- 
ication or prevention of spread. 
A few quotations may help in an 
appraisal of the seriousness of the 
pest in England. J. Wood reports as 
follows in the September 1946 issue of 
The Kirton Agricultural Journal: 
The total acreage of infested land in the 
county (Holland, Lincolnshire) is not defi- 
nitely known, but from different estimates it 
is believed to be about 20 percent of the total 
arable. This means that trouble has occurred 
on about 40,000 acres during the past 25 
years. It does not take into account the land 
that is already initially infested or contami- 
nated. Ona few farms every field is infested 
and potatoes cannot profitably be grown. 
On some, most of the fields are infested and 
the potato acreage has had to be reduced; 
