No. 4.] PLANT DISEASES. 47 



tion of the maladies are forestalled. But, having done this, 

 I would use the spray pump where necessary to insure the 

 perfect crop. Spraying is the last, not the first thing ; we 

 build the house first, then insure it afterwards. 



I also wish to make m3\self clear on another point. I full}^ 

 realize that your conditions of potato culture, with 3^oiu' 

 profitable early home markets, are difierent from ours. We 

 must get oiu? money in Vermont, in general, from a late crop 

 for the general market. To do this, we find it pays well to 

 spray. This does not prove that it will pay 3^ou to do so 

 on your early potatoes ; although I am confident that, were 

 increased yield the only thing desired, you could secure it 

 by spraying. With you, a small crop secured early may pay 

 better than a large one secured later. In this, as in all other 

 matters I have presented, 3^ou are the ones to judge of their 

 practical application to your oAvn local conditions. 



Question. Have you noticed the difference in grow- 

 ing potatoes at higher altitudes and along river banks, — 

 whether the higher altitudes grow a hardier potato, less 

 subject to blight? 



Professor Jones. Yes. I have no doubt that good pota- 

 toes can be grown along river bottoms, but should prefer to 

 go up on the hillside. Our best potato growers in Vermont 

 are those well up at the higher altitudes. 



Question. That would be even more true in Massachu- 

 setts than in Vermont? 



Professor Jones. Yes, sir. 



Question. Then, in growing them in the valleys you are 

 orrowinof them in an unnatural condition ? 



Professor Jones. Yes. As I stated earlier, wherever Ave 

 are growing them, we are growing them in an unnatural 

 condition as regards climate ; but the higher altitudes are 

 more nearly the natural ones for the potato. 



Question. When do 3'ou issue bulletins from Vermont? 



Professor Jones. There is no rule ; sometimes once in 

 two weeks, and sometimes once in two months ; the law 

 requires us to issue them at least four times a year. 



Question. Do they send them right along on request? 



Professor Jones. If you send for any particular one, it 



