POTATO SPRAYING AND DUSTING IN NEW JERSEY, U.S.A. 



By Alfred E. Cameron, M.A., B.Sc. (Aberd.), M.Sc. (Vict.), 



Board of Agriculture Scholar and Honorary Research Fellow^ the Department of 

 Agricultural Entomology, Victoria University, Manchester. 



(Plates I-III.) 

 Introduction. 



In tlie beginning of last year, in terms of the conditions which required my studying 

 abroad as a scholar of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, I proceeded to America 

 in order to carry out research work under the auspices of the Entomological Depart- 

 ment attached to the Agricultural Experiment Station of New Jersey. During a 

 period extending from early spring until late autumn I had the opportunity of 

 supervising and directing the field experiments concerned with the spraying and 

 dusting of the potato crop undertaken by this Station. The purpose of the work was 

 of a two-fold nature : — (1) to determine in a large practical way the relative value 

 of spraying and dusting mixtures in attaining a maximum yield of tubers through 

 control of injurious insects and plant diseases and through growth stimulus imparted 

 to the foliage ; (2) to devise a satisfactory method of controlling the potato flea-beetle 

 (Epitrix cucumeris, Harr.). 



The work was of a co-operative nature, on the one hand between the Experiment 

 Station and potato-growers, and on the other hand between the Experiment Station 

 and certain chemical manufacturers. The growers supplied the facilities for carrying 

 out the tests on their crops, and also carefully performed the necessary work in 

 connection with them. The commercial firms very generously provided the material 

 required in the various treatments, except in the case of Bordeaux mixture, for 

 which the copper sulphate and stone lime had to be purchased. 



The results of the work apply more particularly to the State of New Jersey, U.S.A., 

 and generally to the north-eastern States of that country. In my opinion there is no 

 valid reason why experiments of a like nature should not be undertaken in Great 

 Britain. A perusal of the paper will serve to indicate how very much alive the 

 American farmer is to the advantages of adopting new methods likely to benefit him 

 financially ; and secondly, it may stimulate the energies of those willing to learn 

 a lesson in progressive measures. The orchardist or agriculturist in America is 

 more fortunate than his British cousin in that he can always, when in doubt as to 

 some specific question relating to good culture, consult the experts attached to the 

 State Agricultural Experiment Stations, who have made it their special province 

 to investigate local agricultural and orchard problems. And further, these same 

 stations, by means of their large and well-equipped staffs, are enabled to arrange 

 most useful and educative propaganda. This work embraces a wide range of subjects 

 pertaining to the successful cultivation of crops. They are also always ready to 



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