26 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



other types come nearer meeting the requirements. The early 

 Ohio is popular in the middle western States, but in the south 

 Atlantic it is held in poor esteem. Thus it appears that potato 

 growers in the best producing centers have learned to depend 

 on certain varieties of seed adapted to their special interests. 

 After securing a variety desirable for a given locality, the plant 

 breeder has open before him a large opportunity for developing 

 strains resistant to disease and unfavorable environment. The 

 Crosby Egyptian beets, now used to a large extent in Massa- 

 chusetts, are favorites with the Virginia truckers for their 

 early spring crop, but the Egyptian beets are preferred for the 

 late summer and fall crops. 



The laws governing the transmission of characteristics in 

 breeding are fruitful sources of study. The work done in this 

 line by a number of the experiment stations in both American 

 and European countries is fast becoming of great value to truck 

 farmers. 



Plant Diseases. 



The experiment stations have devoted a great deal of time 

 and energy in the last twenty years to studying the causes of 

 plant diseases and the remedies for them, yet in some lines of 

 agriculture this work has hardly started. The study should 

 now be devoted to discovering the causes underlying the 

 diseases of plants. In some trucking sections the excessive 

 use of commercial fertilizer, together with the tiitensive methods 

 of cultivation, have rendered conditions favorable for the de- 

 velopment of certain classes of diseases that otherwise would 

 not be likely to occur. The study of the exact conditions 

 making it possible for the disease to develop should be under- 

 taken. After this discovery the application of remedies may 

 be much simplified. 



The life history of the organism causing certain diseases 

 should receive careful study. It is important to know the life 

 cycle of the organism in order to combat the specific disease. 

 If the market gardener wishes to maintain the health of his 

 plants, it is as important for him to keep his plantation in a 

 sanitary condition as for him to treat the diseases after they 

 make their appearance. But in order that he may do this in- 

 telligently, the scientist should be in a position to give him the 



