Il6 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
by growing potatos specially for the manufacture of dried potatos, 
farina or alcohol. . . . An industry of this kind only appears possible 
in a country where protection has been accepted as a national policy." 
Even in a country like Germany, where protection is the national 
policy, farmers cannot wax fat over the returns they get for their 
potatos, for, according to Mr. Taylor's enquiries, " farmers as a 
general rule did not in pre-war years receive more than £i 5s. per ton 
for their potatos— the average being nearer £1. These figures do not 
take into consideration the farmers' proportion of the State bonus, 
returned to them as distillers, in accordance with the arrangement 
of the Distillation Tax. The amount received from this bonus would 
in most instances be less than 20s. per ton of potatos used." Those 
whose potatos go to the production of starch do not fare any better, 
£1 6s. per ton being the return in pre-war times. Mr. Taylor has little 
hope of an alcohol industry being established in this country, but 
considers the starch industry should be encouraged and placed in 
the position of a " Key Industry." 
Mr. Donald McKelvie's paper was devoted to " Bud Variation," 
which is not a subject which comes under the heading of my lecture. 
Many present at the Conference were disappointed that he, the eminent 
raiser of ' Arran Chief,' ' Arran Comrade,' and ' Arran Rose,' did not 
discourse on the " Raising of New Varieties of Potatos." 
The series of papers dealing with the Wart Disease problem are 
not for discussion this afternoon. In the words of Dr. Brierley : 
" We know that certain varieties of potato are immune to the disease, 
while others are susceptible : we do not know wherein lies this difference, 
nor which is the positive degree. We possess detailed information 
regarding the cytology and life circle of Synchytrium endobioticum as 
this fungus behaves under laboratory conditions, but we do not know 
how far the truth holds for the complex reality of the field." Until 
these talented research workers get farther advanced, practical men 
must be content to carry on with the very slight understanding of the 
problem which has been vouchsafed to them. 
" From the economic point of view the potato blight is still the most 
serious disease which attacks the crop, and the diminished yields and 
actual losses occasioned by it, though difficult to estimate accurately, 
are truly enormous." Dr. Pethybridge uses these pregnant words 
in the introduction to his paper on " Some Recent Work on Potato 
Blight." We all know of Dr. Pethybridge's splendid work on 
Blights and other diseases, and it is the duty of every practical man 
to study most carefully his paper. One of the most helpful things 
Pethybridge clearly states is that " the view that oospores (resting 
spores) are an absolutely necessary factor in the perpetuation and 
incidence of the blight from year to year is of course untenable. It 
was shown by Bary in 1876 that the disease may arise directly from 
the mycelium hibernating in a blighted tuber if the latter be planted. 
