FEDERAL HORTICULTURAL BOARD. 519 



it is practicable to consider the promulgation of a Federal quaran- 

 tine. 



One very hopeful feature, however, has appeared in the work 

 of this year, namely, that several of the most important potato 

 varieties grown in this country are apparently immune to the disease. 

 This is especially true of the Irish Cobbler and the Rose 4. 



The danger of immediate spread of the disease is very much re- 

 duced by the fact that there is no important commercial potato pro- 

 duction in the invaded districts. The infestation, however, has mani- 

 fested itself in a very severe form, practically destroying the entire 

 crop in many of the affected gardens. 



The importance of a study of the potato wart conditions in Eng- 

 land, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, so as to be able to take immediate 

 advantage, in the work in this country, of any effective control 

 methods, either from the use of immune varieties of potatoes or 

 through cultural operations which have been developed in the many 

 3'ears of experience with this disease in these foreign countries, led 

 tlic board to make such investigation in Great Britain and Ireland. 

 This work was carried out for the board, in cooperation with the 

 State of Pennsylvania, by Mr. J. G. Sanders, Director of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry of the Pennsylvania State Department of Agri- 

 culture, who is collaborating with this board in the control of the 

 j>otato wart outbreak in Pennsylvania. It has resulted in the secur- 

 ing of information which will be of much advantage to the work 

 in this country. One of the results is the proposed introduction 

 of certain varieties of potatoes which are believed to be immune to the 

 disease and which have marked color characteristics, enabling them 

 to be easily distinguished from other potatoes, with the object of util- 

 izing them for planting in the invaded districts in lieu of actually 

 prohibiting potato culture in such districts. Prohibition of potato 

 culture would lead to wide dissatisfaction on the part of the 

 miners and other inhabitants of these districts, mostly of for- 

 eign nationalities, who would hardly understand and appreciate 

 the need of such strict quarantine measures. The Bureau of Plant 

 Industry of the Department of Agriculture is i^lanning, in coop- 

 eration with the board, to introduce a 'considerable series of these 

 and other British potatoes which have been demonstrated to be 

 substantially free from any or serious damage from this disease. 

 These varieties will be obtained from regions in the countries con- 

 cerned which are believed to be free from the disease and will be 

 utilized, through the experimental period, only in districts in this 

 country where the disease is already established. This phase of the 

 investigation assumes great importance in view of the known wide 

 distribution of the European importations of 1911 and 1912 and 

 the considerable number of new points of infestation determined 

 for the disease during the year, indicating a possibility that the dis- 

 ease may be so widespread that it may not now be possible to effect 

 its eradication in this country. 



THE FLAG SMUT AND TAKE-ALL DISEASES. 



In response to representations made to the board b^^ the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry as to the risk from two important diseases, namely, 

 the flag smut and take-all, affecting wheat and other cereals in 



