THE JOURNAL 



OF THE 



BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Vol, XIV, No. 7. 



OCTOBER, 1907. 



DEGENERATION IN POTATOES. 



During the past few years many inquiries have been addressed 

 to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as to the reason why 

 potato tubers fail to form sprouts at the proper season, even 

 when placed under the most favourable conditions for doing 

 so. Last spring one correspondent stated that out of 70 tons 

 of potatoes of high grade, specially intended for "seed," only 

 5 tons showed signs of sprouting, the remainder being dis- 

 posed of, at a serious loss, for culinary purposes. This condi- 

 tion of things is not confined to this country. In Germany* 

 serious losses have been sustained owing to the sterility of 

 potato " sets," more especially of the kind known as Magnum 

 Bonum. Very few of the eyes produced sprouts, and the 

 " sets " at the time of lifting were not shrivelled and dried 

 up as is the case under normal conditions, but on the other 

 hand were solid and quite firm and in many cases had 

 actually increased in size. In one instance where the " sets " 

 were graded by a machine before planting, an increase in 

 size of from one-half to three-quarters had taken place. This 

 proves that the "sets" after planting had commenced growth 

 a second season, and had accumulated the starch formed 

 by the scanty amount of foliage produced. The new tubers 

 formed by such plants were small and few in number. In 

 many instances sprouts were not formed, and the " sets " 

 remained intact in the soil throughout the season. The loss 

 on the potato crop varied from about 5 per cent, to total loss, 



^Deutsche Landwirtsch. Presse, Nos. 91, 94, 95, and 97, 1905. See Journal, 

 Feb., 1906, Vol. xii, p. 671. 



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