8 BULLETIN 47, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The problem of securing a supply of disease-free seed has been 

 met and solved in Germany in a manner that could profitably be 

 adopted in the United States, since we now have to deal with the 

 same type of disease, the leaf-roll. This can not be detected by an 

 examination of the seed, and an inspection of the growing crop 

 becomes necessary. 



In Germany this inspection is made upon request by expert repre- 

 sentatives of the chamber of agriculture or of the German Agricul- 

 tural Society, and certificates are issued to owners of disease-free 

 crops. 



Such a plan for the United States would be better if carried out 

 by the cooperation of potato growers' associations, the State experi- 

 ment stations, and the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 rather than through legal enactment. It would be especially valuable 

 to the growers in western districts where leaf-roll is prevalent and 

 to. southern truckers who require seed free from blackleg, scab, and 

 dry-rot. The benefit would not be confined to the purchaser, who is 

 in this way assured of the quality of his seed stock, for the producer 

 would profit equally by the certification of his improved stock. 



SHOULD WE INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION? 



Under present conditions there are seasons of favorable weather, 

 when the potato production of the country fully meets existing de- 

 mands, and in some years the demand is, indeed, exceeded and the 

 price falls below the cost of production. Too frequently, also, 

 through drought or heat the crop is cut short and the price rises 

 beyond what the consumer can afford to pay. 



This situation is very bad from an economic standpoint. Both 

 producer and consumer suffer in the long run. The farmer runs too 

 great a risk, and the retail price of potatoes frequently exceeds their 

 food value. 



A commodity like the potato, which can not be preserved from one 

 year to another, like grain, and which is too bulky to transport long 

 distances, must be produced near the markets in ample quantities if 

 stability of price is to be secured. 



FOREIGN SUPPLY NO LONGER AVAILABLE. 



In previous years of scarcity, potatoes have been imported from 

 Europe in large quantities— 7,000,000 bushels in 1901, 8,000,000 in 

 1908, and 13,000,000 in 1911. With them, however, came diseases 

 hitherto unknown in America, like the blackleg and scurf and 

 powdery scab; and the danger of importing the still more dreaded 

 wart disease led the Secretary of Agriculture in September, 1912, 

 to prohibit the importation of potatoes from Great Britain, Ger- 



