90 



should it have already cilitaiiiwl admission. It will, then-fore, still he iiiipor- 

 taut to sort out the tubers fmni time to time, aud remove aii.v shuwini; tlie 

 least sigu of rot. 



The sprinkling of quick-lime amonsst the potatoes is a useful measure. 

 aud helps to keej) them dry and healthy. 



^Vi<lc Ciiltirution. 



It is iuiiMirt.Mut not to have the rows too close together: plenty of sjiace 

 must he left for high " earthing-up." This will enable one to cover the tubers 

 with a good de])th of soil aud render them much less liable to be affected. 

 even though the f<iliage may suffer severely. It jirevents the spores from being 

 carried dowu by rain and other agencies on to the tubers. 



Mdiiiiriini. 



In distrirts where it is the jiractii-e to use manures, care nuist be taken 

 to employ onl.v those which are known not to encourage the disease. 

 Numerous experiments carried ont in uian.v parts of the world have shown 

 that crops manured witli highly uitro.geuous numures, such as nitrate of .soda, 

 blood, etc., contract the disease with great ease: while. <pn the other hand, 

 when they are manured with ijotasb-salts and ]ilios]iliates they often escape 

 the disease to a great extent. 



flood Dniiiwijc. 



As has been pointed out. the Irish disease is specially aided to spread by 

 moist surroundings. It therefore follows that good drainage is very essen- 

 tial, and the addition of large quantities of lime to tlie soil will render crojis 

 grown on over-moist soils less susceptiiile to attack. 



The most important method of ]ireveuting this disease is by means nf 

 thorough and systematic spraying with P.ordc.-inx mixture. — yew Zealand 

 liiillriiii. Xo. rj. 



^Vll(■n to Si)ia!/. 



So nuich depeuds upon the weatlier conditions for the development of the 

 potato blight that uo set time can be given for its appearance. I>ast year it 

 api)eared about the 1st of July, and the year before somewhat later. When 

 it first appears, small mildewy .spots appear on the under side of the leaves, 

 then dead. In-own six)ts appear. When once started the disease spreads very 

 r.-ipidly and has been known to spread over an entire field in one or two days. 

 Soon the leaves aud stems are reduced to a derayiug mass wliich euiits a very 

 disagreeable odour. From this it is plain that as SfH.n as the di.sease is 

 developed no time should be lost in going to work. 



T'ndoubtedly the heal plan would be to spray once quite early, say about 

 the middle of .Tune, in order to be sure of heading off tlie di.sease. This should 

 be r<'peated every two weeks to insure success, as a great deal depends on 

 keeping the jilants safely guarded against the attacks of the spores.— Bh//c^/)i 

 \o. 'ili. ]\'asliiiii/toii Airiciilliiral CoUciic. 



