20 
Colorado Agricultural College 
box lias been used to put up high grade potatoes for fancy trade, 
it has been a success. 
One of the aims of the Colorado State Potato- Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation is to establish standard grades and containers so that the 
buyers will know what they are buying. The importance of the 
potato crop as a universal human food makes it all the more neces¬ 
sary that it should be marketed and sold under certain required 
standards. 
SEED CERTIFICATION 
With the development of the potato growing industry in this 
State, some provisions are necessary to secure the purchaser of 
seed potatoes against inferior product. To obtain this condition 
a system of seed certification is necessary. It is true that here and 
there, are seed producers who make a specialty of producing high 
grade potatoes from which the average grower may obtain high 
class seed. But these seed growers are few and far between, and 
as the welfare of an industry depends upon the intelligence and 
standards of the average grower, it is necessary that the largest 
possible number of them should have access to high grade seed. 
A system of seed certification by properly qualified officials 
who can certify to the quality of the seed is necessary. This would 
tend to raise the general standard of the product, and also furnish 
an incentive to many growers to produce certified seed. 
A system of certification was formulated by the Colorado 
State Potato Growers' Association and incorporated in its consti¬ 
tution and by-law.s. This certification calls for two inspections 
of the growing field during the summer, and a bin inspection after 
the harvest. In the field inspection special attention is paid to- the 
health and vigor of the plants, the absence or presence of disease, 
the fullness of the stand and the uniformity of the plants in the 
field. The two field inspections should be made at intervals of four 
to six weeks. The last inspection should be made as late as pos¬ 
sible before the harvest, so as to detect the most dangerous 
diseases. 
The bin inspection gives the inspector an opportunity to de¬ 
termine the trueness to type of the variety grown, the freedom 
from scab and the general quality of the tubers. If, after the 
inspection, the inspector finds that the product measures up to the 
standard, a certificate to this effect is granted to the grower. This 
certificate states the variety, the results of the inspection, and in 
fact all possible information connected, with the potatoes. The 
grower may then use his certificate in advertising his product and 
