1920.] 



Pests dirinc; ArorsT. 



487 



PESTS APPEARING DURING 

 AUGUST. 



Potatoes. — III l:>«t iiiunth's notes mentioii was made tliat [)Otato 

 diseases were largely in evidence in the country, and that 

 lil'ujJit may still be very common if the weather should be damp. 

 Growers should make every effort to dig and store their potatoes 

 in dry weather, as if potatoes are clamped wet it is almost 

 impossible to prevent the spread of ordinary potato disease in 

 the clamp. In some districts it is frequently an advantage in 

 the long run to grow Second Earlies, as these ripen and can be 

 dug before the w^eather breaks. It is often desirable, at any 

 rate in gardens, to dig the potatoes before the tops have died 

 down, as the prospect of a heavier crop by leaving the potatoes 

 in the ground may be negatived by the greater risks of disease. 

 It is a general custom to leave potatoes on the surface of the 

 ground for the skin to harden, and to let the tubers dry off before 

 storing. If Blight is present in the adjoining rows, this should 

 not be done, as the spores in the air settle on the tubers, and if 

 left out over night especially the damp and dew may cause them 

 to germinate. The tubers may thus become infected, and later, 

 when the crop is clamped, the disease may spread and set up 

 extensive decay in the whole clamp. 



Leaf Curl. — This disease arises from the use of poor or 

 diseased seed. It does not always affect the entire crop, but 

 occurs scattered in the rows, often to the extent of 25 per cent, 

 to 50 per cent., and even more. Plants affected with Curl yield 

 a very poor crop, and the tubers are of small size. It cannot he 

 too undely known that seed saved from such plants gives rise to 

 similarly diseased plants, and the tendency is for the disease to 

 increase in intensity each year. 



At this season it may still be possible to recognise the plants 

 which are so affected, but later on this is not possible. Where 

 " seed " saving is contemplated, therefore, an inspection should 

 be made at once, and the presence and position of curled and 



miffy " plants ascertained. If there is any appreciable quan- 

 tity, no seed at all should be saved from the plot. The rule that 

 slwuld ahraj/s he followed, in seed-saving is, to select from the 

 most healthy plants. The common ])ractico of allinving the 

 entire crop to mature and then to pick out tubers of seed size 

 cannot be too strongly condemned. It usually results in the 

 larger, healthy tubers from robust individuals ho'mi: vvjvctod and 

 the majority of the seed whicli is saved It-iiig ])i-odiict of 



