Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wra. A. Taylor, Chief, and 

 the Federal Horticultural Board, C. L. Marlatt, Chairman. 



March 31, 1914. . 



THE POTATO QUARANTINE AND THE AMERICAN POTATO 



INDUSTRY. 



By W. A. Orton, 



Pathologist in Charge of Cotton and Truck Disease and Sugar-Plant Investigations, 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, and Vice Chairman of the Federal Horticultural Board. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In September, 1912, a quarantine order was issued by the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture prohibiting the importation of potatoes into the 

 United States from the British Isles, Germany, Austria-Hungary, 

 and from Newfoundland, St. Pierre, and Miquelon, on account of the 

 potato wart. In December, 1913, an additional temporary quar- 

 antine was laid against Canada and all the countries of Europe, 

 pending further investigations of the occurrence of powdery scab 

 and the establishment of a system of inspection on the part of for- 

 eign governments that will provide for the certification of potatoes 

 offered for export to the United States, to the effect that they are free 

 from disease, that they were grown in a disease-free locality from 

 which the American quarantine has been lifted, and that in other re- 

 spects they conform to the regulations established by this Government. 



The discussion of these quarantines has focused public attention 

 on the potato question to an unusual degree and has emphasized 

 the need for available information concerning the reasons for the 

 quarantines, the nature of the new regulations, and the general 

 status of the potato industry. This bulletin is intended as a contribu- 

 tion to this end. It is sought also to outline a constructive policy 

 for future development that will lessen losses from disease and other 

 wastes and place potato culture on a basis more profitable to the 

 producer, while at the same time permanently reducing the cost to the 

 consumer of this staple food. 



Note. — This bulletin tells of the necessity for establishing a quarantine against potatoes from certain 

 countries, gives brief descriptions of the potato diseases that have been imported, indicates some of the 

 agencies by which these diseases have been spread over this country, and gives information that potato 

 growers should have in advance of the planting season. It is intended for general distribution. 



30952°— Bull. 81—14 1 



