WART DISEASE OF POTATOS. 



303 



W. Davie, of Haddington, informed him a few years ago that he 

 remembered the disease being in his garden as far back as 1876 ; and 

 a relative of Mr. Berry, now a very old man, can remember it in a 

 garden in the same town quite as far back. This is about the date, 

 I believe from my inquiries of various people, that it appeared first in 

 Cheshire. Professor Bryner Jones recorded it from Wales in 1901, 

 but it was not found in Ireland till October 1908. 



It was therefore well established in village gardens and allotments 

 long before the scientific world had heard of it, and my experience 

 with some other so-called recently introduced diseases leads me to 

 believe that they had become established in the country some 3'ears 

 before any mycologist had seen them. 



It was not until about 1907 that the disease began to cause any 

 general concern. Certain mycologists who had seen the disease 

 recognized its possibilities as a destructive pest, but growers, even 

 when it was present in their district, derided the idea of its being 

 the cause of any loss to the commercial grower, and the reply that the 

 land was " potato sick " owing to the constant cropping of gardens 

 and allotments with potatos was thought generally to be sufficient. 

 The number of specimens received by the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries for diagnosis increased greatly during that year, and it 

 became obvious that the disease was extending its limit and increasing 

 in intensity. Very little was known of it beyond the name of the 

 organism associated with it, and nothing as to its means of spread, or 

 remedies for it. The Board could only give general advice on cultiva- 

 tion, and suggested the use of sulphur and keeping the land free 

 from potatos for a year or two. 



The passing of the Destructive Insects and Pests Act in 1907, 

 however, enabled the Board to appoint technical inspectors, but it 

 was too late that year to do anything very definite. In 1908 the 

 writer was requested to undertake an inquiry into the nature and 

 extent of the disease. A list was made of all the known cases and 

 the correspondents visited and interviewed. They were of all 

 classes — gardeners, scientists, farmers, and allotment holders. 



It was soon ascertained that in certain counties, especially Lan- 

 cashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire, the disease was widespread, severe, 

 and of long standing. It had also obtained an entrance into the 

 fields ; but farmers, as already mentioned, refused to believe it to be 

 serious. As the writer pointed out to them, they were working on 

 a rotation and had given the fungus little opportunity to spread ; but 

 their statements made it obvious that where they had seen it twice 

 in the same field it was worse the second time. Certain farmers, 

 however, took very gloomy views, as they had infected many of their 

 fields by means of manure, and this proved to be one of the quickest 

 means of spreading the disease locally. 



One of the first to be interviewed was Mr. H. S. Daine, of Moulds- 

 worth, Cheshire. He had become interested in the disease because 

 two or three cottage gardens near by were badly infected. The 



