No. 4.] PLANT DISP:ASES. 39 



to American needs and conditions. We have confidence in 

 the skill and patience of American potato breeders and in 

 the fundamental plasticity of the potato plant, and we there- 

 fore believe that we may look forward to a day when we 

 shall have varieties of potatoes equalling our best ones in all 

 other respects, and having, in addition, if not complete im- 

 munity to the various diseases the potato is heir to, at least 

 a far higher degree of disease resistance than do our standard 

 varieties at present. 



In conclusion, then, I would repeat and summarize my 

 conviction that man may proceed with good courage in his 

 effort to rid his plants of disease. Success is conditional 

 upon various things. Knowledge of cause should precede 

 remedial measures ; but where the cause is understood, and, 

 if it be a parasite, the full life history of this is known, the 

 practical remedy is not long in abeyance. Plants are by 

 nature healthy, and the first effort of the grower should be 

 so to surround them with environmental and cultural condi- 

 tions that disease is kept from them. The spray pump, 

 while often essential, is to be regarded as the last resort, the 

 finishing touch, the insurance policy ; but as such it is at 

 present indispensable. The right understanding of the dis- 

 eases of the plant require a stud}^ of the diseases of each 

 crop, that they may be understood in their interrelations to 

 the particular nature, histor}^ and development of the plant 

 in question. And, finally, far more attention should be 

 given than has yet been done to the breeding and selection of 

 varieties with reference to their resistance to specific diseases. 



Prof. Wm. p. Brooks (of Amherst). Are the European 

 varieties which exist suited to our climate ? 



Professor Jones. I am verv glad you raised that ques- 

 tion. We are not in condition to-day to recommend these 

 to any Vermont farmer, knowing what we do about them, 

 for these reasons : the German and Holland varieties, which 

 are the best disease resisters, are not up to our American 

 standards, — they haven't a very good flavor ; they are a 

 coarse, factory type of potato, and are not to be recom- 

 mended for American culture, unless it be for starch or 



