POTATO CULTUEE. 75 



ago, Prof. M. C. Keed, of this place, then State Geologist, 

 told me that, in his garden, where potatoes had been grown 

 so long that it was full of the disease, liming the soil for two 

 or three years, and using only smooth seed, he got rid of the 

 trouble. I have seen no account of long-continued and care- 

 ful experiments that prove this. But Prof. Bolley has shown 

 pretty conclusively that the germs on the seed may be de- 

 stroyed. This, of course, is a much simpler matter, as we 

 can get directly at them. 



Killing Germs on Scabby Potatoes. 



I will now tell you what I know about this. You remem- 

 ber my telling of growing some horribly scabby potatoes in 

 my orchard lot two years ago. I expected something fine 

 there. I had planted a new and high-priced variety very 

 high. I could not afford to lose them. To replace them 1 

 should have to pay some $12 or $15 a barrel. I had heard of 

 Prof. Bolley 's experiments in this line. Director Thorne, of 

 our Experiment Station, kindly obtained reports for me, 

 and Prof. Bolley as kindly advised me by private letter on 

 points about whicli I was in doubt. The result was, that I 

 treated some forty bushels or more of these awfully scabby 

 tubers, according to directions, and obtained a smooth crop 

 made the seed as good as though it were smooth, by killing 

 the fungus growth that was on it. I worked with some 

 little fear, because, if I failed, I should fill some five or six 

 acres of soil with the disease. Of course, the seed was plant- 

 ed in land that had never produced any scabby tubers to 

 speak of. Otherwise it would have been of no use to treat 

 the seed. 



We first picked out three good tight flour-barrels, and 

 soaked them up until they failed to absorb any more water. 

 Then while these were soaking I went to a druggist and 

 bought seven packages of corrosive sublimate (mercuric 

 bichloride), two ounces in each package. This he pulverized 

 finely in a mortar before putting it up. Next I bought three 



