Potatoes 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 tnbers in pits in the earth so covered with 

 straw that they will not freeze, yet 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 any 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. I., 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 



