314 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



SEED ROT OF POTATOES. 



BY E. R. BENNET, POTATO SPECIALIST, COL- 

 ORADO EXPERIMENT STATION, 

 FORT COLLINS, COLO. 



Reports have already begun to come in 

 of seed potatoes rotting in the ground. 

 This trouble is caused by a fungus, or 

 mould that attacks the piece of tuber in 

 the ground on the cut surface. The 

 disease was so bad last year in some fields 

 that 90 per cent of the seed rotted in the 

 ground. In some cases this rot started 

 so soon as to prevent the pieces of tubers 

 from sprouting at all. In other cases it 

 started later, rotted the seed, then the 

 fungus attacked the stem. Plants may be 

 found in any field during the season more 

 or less affected with this disease. The 

 plants lose their green color and the 

 edges of the leaves turn yellow or die. 

 If the stem be pulled up, the bark will 

 be found all right, but the splitting of 

 the stem longitudinally will show the sap 

 wood of the stem colored brown or yel- 

 low or in the last stages black. Micro- 

 scopical examination of a cross-section of 

 the stem will show the fungus growing 

 in the cells and across the sap tubes of 

 the stem. The injury, to a large extent, 

 at least, comes from the clogging of the 

 sap circulation by the hypha of this 

 fungus. 



This plant, or fungus, that causes the 

 disease, is one of the species of Fusari- 

 ium, the same or similar to the one that 

 causes the blight or so-called "sleeping- 

 disease" of the tomato. No direct rem- 

 edy is known for it. One fact that is of 

 some assistance in combatting it is that 

 the disease is much more prevalent on 

 land previously planted to potatoes than 

 on alfalfa, or clover land. Another thing 

 that is quite noticeable in studying the 

 nature of the disease, is that potatoes 

 planted whole are not attacked to such an 

 extent as the cut ones because of the in- 

 ability of the fungus to get into the stem. 



Treatment of seed with formalin, cor- 

 rosive sublimate, sulphur, lime, etc., have 

 not given any perceptible relief from it 



It is probable that in many cases at 

 least much of the disease is carried to 

 the field in the seed potatoes. The same 

 fungus causes the "dry rot" of potatoes 

 in the storage cellars. It has been very 

 noticeable during the past winter that 

 cellars with poor ventilation, no matter 

 how cool and dry they were, had a high 

 per cent of potatoes affected with this 

 dry rot. Good ventilation and as low a 

 temperature without danger of frost in 

 the cellar is probably the best safeguard 

 against loss from this cause. 



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