Potato Failures 
SECOND REPORT. 
By F. M. ROLFS, M. S. 
PART I. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Line of Work .—Bulletin 70 of this Station gives the re¬ 
sults of our experiments and study of Rhizoctonia of the potato for 
the year 1901 . Work on this disease has been continued during the 
past two years. The practical value of corrosive sublimate and 
formalin solutions have been tested, over 120,000 pounds of seed 
tubers have been treated and the the influence of the treatment on 
the plants and crops carefully noticed. Seed selection has received 
considerable attention, and the influence of irrigation and cultiva¬ 
tion on the development of the disease has also been studied. A 
fruiting stage of the fungus has been studied both in the labora¬ 
tory and in the field. 
Historical .—This disease is common to the fields of Europe, 
and has been reported from many localities in the United States. 
It is difficult to find a lot of tubers which are not more or less in¬ 
fected with it. Its origin is not known, however, its rhizoctonia 
and sclerotia stages were first reported by Kuhn, and European 
literature contains a number of publications on this malady. Its 
history in America is comparatively recent, dating back to only 
1900 . To my knowledge only four* publications on this potato 
disease have appeared in this country. Curiously enough the 
fruiting stage of this fungus has been overlooked, or at least never 
associated with the rhizoctonia and sclerotia stages, and some of 
our ablest workers have supposed it to be a sterile fungus; careful 
study, however, shows that it produces spores abundantly. 
\ Bulletin 186 N. Y. Cornell Exp. Station. 
1 \ “ 186 N. Y. Agr. 
2 “ 70 Colo. Agr. 
3 and 4 Bulletins 139 and 145 Ohio Agr. EXp. Station. 
