AORICULTUIIAL APPRfJPRIATION BIIJ^ IflM. 483 



Doctor Maulatt. The potiiUi wiirt in ono of llip pottlM that got in 

 during; tliut period just rrforrod to; iim n in tit tor of fnrl, it cnine in the 



your ln'fon' tlu* l«»j;islaf inn wjis (xismcmI I»v < <«. Thin v,'m» a 



disease wc knew about ; it was one of tin- <!• »iiir|j ■ •■ - I 



in tlie act ns one of the reasons for the 1 i. hut : , 



camo a litth» too late. The plant i|uarantine net became law in 

 Aufxust, 11>'2(), |)ut this pest j^ol in (hiring' the |)rfMrrdin<^' winter 

 thr(»u<?h a hirf^(> shipment of potatoes from (lermanv, whirli were 

 distributed to niinin«; districts in Pennsylvania. West \'irKinia. utui 

 Maryland. This disease has been un<ler investigation by the board 

 since n>J(> un(h»r sp«M'ilic appropriations. So far as the work of ih«» 

 board is concerned, it is now possible to relincpiish the a))[>ropruition 

 except for a very minor item. This is d<me for the reason ihnl we 

 have completed what we believe is the necessary investigational and 

 control work which should be done by the department at this tir 

 The work that should be carried forward now is su<h work that < . 

 States can take care of, and they have expressed their willini^nrHs to 

 do that. If they did not do it we would have to keep tlu« work jjoi- - 

 but Pennsylvania has her own internal (piarantine which is - 

 as much protection as we could jjjive with a similar Federal (|uai . 

 Marvland has promised to take similar action. The experimental 

 work under this appronrialion has been carried to such an extent 

 that it can be very mucli reduced, but it is necessary, as stated in l^ • 

 exphuuition which yon have before you, to continue certain ph.i . - 

 of the work, and for this purpose $5, ()()() is asked. 



Mr. Bi'cHA.NAN. Are you dostroyin<j the wart and <;etiin<; vni <.| it '. 



Doctor Maulatt. The wart has proved to be a less dan«;en»us 

 disease than was anticipated. I do not want to be misunderstood in 

 that. It is just as dangerous as we anticipated for a certain jjroup 

 of potatoes — i. e., for what is known as tlii' rural i;roup of potat' . - 

 which jirc growni largely in the central portion of the countrv; lu.ii 

 is, in New York, Ohio, anil through that tlistrict. It is very destruc- 

 tive to this rural group of potatoes and that includes many of our 

 best potatoes, grown over considerable areas. Most of the v.- ' - 

 of potatoes in this country, ln)wever, are immune to the di- 

 that is, other than the rural group, and particularly the potat<x»s 

 grown in the northern sections, in Maine, northern New York, 

 Michigan. Minnesota, etc., and the potatoes grown in the S>uth. 

 During the course of these years of investigation practically all the 

 potatoes grown in this country have been tested and many important 

 varieties — I should say 70 or more— are substantially or absolut ' 

 immune to the disea.se. That has very much simplified the cont..-, 

 of the disease, and it has also relieved a great deal of fear which the 

 disease gave potato growers when it first came to this countrv. 



What the btatcs are doing now in all these districts -and they are 

 all rather limited districts and not commercial potato-growin^; dis- 

 tricts — is to require the householdei-s to grow immune varieties of 

 potatoes. The experts do not believe that it is possible to entirely 

 eradicate the disease by that means, but at least it ]>ractically elimi- 

 nates the risk of the carriage or spread of the disease. 



Mr. Anderson. This disease is carried in the soil i 



Doctor Marlatt. The disease remains for several years in the soil, 

 and it affects also other plants than potatoes. These other ]>lants are 

 affected much less than ])otaloes, and this disease may not be tie- 



