3i8 
Garden Work 
THE POTATO DISEASE 
The spore — as the little seeds of the lower plants are 
called — on germinating produces a little tube, which grows 
on the surface of the leaf until it comes to a stoma or air 
pore. Through this it enters into the tissue of the leaf. 
When once inside, its work of destruction begins. It 
The Potato Disease 
a, Young plants with spores proceeding from stomata, b. Section of potato-leaf, showing 
the mode in which the mycelium creeps among the loose tissue of the leaf. 
which it grows out against the inner wall, and is able to 
absorb this. It then enters the adjoining cell, eating its 
contents, and so on, until it robs all the surrounding cells, 
leaving them quite dead. The black spots which we see 
on the Potato plants at certain times of the year are really 
patches of cells that have been killed by this disease. 
But this is not all. If these black patches are closely 
examined, slender, whitish-looking hairs may be observed 
