Wart Disease. 



[mar., 



In Dorset and Somerset there is a great deal of net braiding 

 and gloving in cottage homes, and probably other manufac- 

 turers could get work done quite rehably by taking it to the 

 people, instead of bringing people from rural districts to work 

 in large and already congested areas of population. It is 

 not, of course, suggested that competitive forms of labour are 

 required in the country ; occupations are sought which may 

 afford employment to the women and young girls. Experience 

 has shown that if the latter migrate to the towns, the youths 

 follow. If, therefore, employment can be found for the girls, 

 something will be done towards checking the movement from 

 field to factory which has, of late years, been so unfortunate 

 a feature of our national life. 



****** 



There is still a certain amount of criticism made as to the 

 measures being taken to check the spread of Wart Disease. 

 Wart Disease these circumstances it is well that the 



official attitude should be understood. 



In the first place, it is important that clean parts of the 

 country should be protected from infection. Were they to 

 become badly infected, the existence of immune varieties 

 would still suffice to save the potato-growing industry carried 

 on there, but an immediate stop would be put to the cultivation 

 of those varieties eminently suitable to local conditions. 

 For example, in the Fen country, the " King Edward " and 

 " Evergood," both unfortunately susceptible to Wart Disease, 

 grow better than any other?. Moreover, there is a very large 

 demand for them all over England, with the exception of 

 certain districts in the Ridings of Yorkshire and in the South- 

 western counties. Even in these districts, in which there is 

 no marked local demand, large quantities of " King Edward " 

 are gro^^•n to meet the demand elsewhere. 



The Ministry has come to the conclusion that the main cause 

 of the spread of Wart Disease is the planting in clean areas of 

 susceptible varieties of potatoes obtained from infected or 

 suspicious districts. Their policy has, therefore, been not 

 only to make it illegal to use as seed for clean land potatoes 

 which have been grown on infected land, but also to limit 

 the cultivation of potatoes on infected land to immune varieties. 

 The latter regulation has certainly prevented the wide dis- 

 tribution of disease that would have been entailed by the 

 common practice of using ware potatoes as seed, but it has 

 also involved some hardship on the grower for market by 



