GOLDEN NEMATODE—POPHAM 
Known Infested Land Held Out of 
Potato Production 
There are now known to be some- 
what more than 7,000 acres in the 
Hicksville area either infested or ex- 
posed to infestation. In complying 
with the provisions of the New York 
State quarantine and in accordance 
with a carefully organized Federal- 
State cooperative control program, 
known infested acreage was held out 
of production during the 1948 season 
with the understanding that growers 
would receive compensation amount- 
ing to approximately two-thirds of 
their losses, these to be calculated on 
the basis of average crops over a 5-year 
period. 
As a result of inspections made on 
Long Island since planting date, 
infestation has been found on an addi- 
tional 800 acres, all of which is very 
lightly infested. However, potatoes 
from these fields and from adjacent 
exposed fields will be marketed through 
approved channels under supervision 
as heretofore. 
The Hicksville area represents less 
than 10 percent of the land normally 
planted to potatoes on Long Island 
so the prevention of local as well as 
long-distance spread is an important 
consideration. It is recognized that 
before the golden nematode was 
known to occur on Long Island, 
potatoes from infested fields moved to 
market without restriction. However, 
Long Island is not a seed-producing 
area, and potatoes grown there are 
consumed for the most part in New 
York City or in other metropolitan 
areas. It is possible, however, that 
some may have found their way to 
353 
rural points. Bags used in marketing 
potatoes from infested fields may have 
reached the hands of potato growers in 
areas some distance from Long Island. 
Thus, while the Bureau is cooperating 
closely with the State of New York in 
maintaining strict control over the 
movement of potatoes or other soil- 
bearing objects from infested lands on 
Long Island, it is important that 
potato growers and pest-control offi- 
cials throughout the country remain 
alert to the possibility that the golden 
nematode may have become estab- 
lished elsewhere. If such foci of infec- 
tion exist it is important that they be 
discovered promptly and that suppres- 
sive action be taken. At least until 
far more statisfactory methods of 
control are known, it is highly impor- 
tant that further spread of the pest 
be prevented. 
Cornell University and the Bureau 
of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricul- 
tural Engineering are cooperating in 
a comprehensive research program 
which has two main objectives: (1) 
to find a practical method of disin- 
festing potatoes grown on infested 
lands so that they may move to 
market without restriction as to des- 
tination, and (2) to determine a more 
effective and economical sil treat- 
ment which can be used either in an 
eradication effort or for commercial 
control in areas where the nematode 
now occurs or later becomes estab- 
lished. 
Some modifications will be made in 
the cooperative control program for 
1949. However, the main objective 
will be to keep out of potato and 
tomato production as much as possible 
of the land known to be infested. 
