Porators 1379 
Anything which impairs the vitality of the seed means less vigor 
and productivity of the plant. Hence, if the tubers were blighted 
the previous year, it is probable that the disease is carried directly 
to the new crop. Of this I shall speak in particular in treating of 
blight. Again, a field in which the tops were destroyed by blight 
is one in which, because of the destruction of the leaf, the normal 
amount of starch has not been formed, and we have an imperfectly 
developed tuber. If the seed is kept where the sprouts grow long 
and are broken off there is a loss of vitality. For this reason 
I prefer to store the seed tubers in pits in the earth so covered with 
straw that they will not freeze, vet where they keep much cooler 
than in the ordinary cellar. The same covering will also keep the 
heat out for a long time in the spring. If one is planting late, 
after danger from the frost is past, the potatoes can be taken out 
and spread on a floor where it is light and cool. The eyes will then 
start slowly, and anv potatoes which fail to sprout or which send 
out a thread-like shoot may be rejected, thus saving vacant or 
worthless hills. 
There is an increasing complaint of damage from scab. This is 
a bacterial disease, and never the work of insects. The infection 
may come from the soil. If so, there is no sure way of prevent- 
ing the trouble. Professor Sirrine, of Riverhead, L. J., has had 
good results from 500 pounds of sulphur mixed with each ton 
of fertilizer —using a half ton of the fertilizer to the acre—- 
applied in the drill. A sweet soil is most favorable to the growth 
of scab. For this reason lime should never be used on land just 
prior to a potato crop. Wood ashes which are rich in lime have 
the same effect. It will take at least three years for the scab to dis- 
appear from the soil, and in one badly infested, or strongly 
alkaline, much longer. I have found growers in the Ohio Valley 
using rye to be turned under before planting potatoes. This 
makes the land slightly acid and consequently less favorable for 
scab development. 
A frequent source of infection is scabby seed, which can easily 
be controlled. The old remedy, and an excellent one, is to soak 
the seed — preferably before cutting —for at least an hour in a 
solution of 1 ounce of corrosive sublimate to 8 gallons of 
water, or 1 pint of formalin to 30 gallons of water. This will 
