l86 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



Cases of poisoning of children sometimes result 

 from their eating the green balls that enclose the 

 seeds, and look so good when served on the table 

 in the playhouse. Timely warnings will prevent 

 such occurrences. 



Careful planters soak the potato cuttings in 

 dilute formalin before planting, to destroy the 

 spores of a potato disease called "scab." 4 Two 

 hours in the liquid insures healthy potatoes from 

 the "seed." That means a clean crop that brings 

 a good price. The cost of the bath is very slight, 

 and the work is almost nothing. But the planting 

 of scabby seed potatoes insures a crop that is 

 scabby and a poor yield, because of the disease. 

 Grain smuts are killed by soaking the seed in the 

 same preparation of formalin. 



A potato is a dormant shoot, set with buds, each 

 with store of nourishment sufficient to feed its 

 growth until it shall have roots and leaves to 

 gather its own living from the soil and the air. 

 If winter passes, and the tuber is not planted, it 

 begins to grow wherever it happens to be. In the 

 cellar bin the long, colorless shoots wind around 

 in search of light. If there is a window, they all 

 reach toward it. On the table in the light the 

 shoots grow fast and produce green leaves, using 

 the water that is in the fleshy substance, if none 



