The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1904-04-21
THE POTATO BLIGHT
Words of Warming to Potato Raisers-
The Scab and Blight and the
PreVentatives.
How to Treat Seed Stock Before Plant
ing, and the Value of the BOr.
deaux Mixture.

ing, and the Value of the Bor-
deaux Mixture.
The potato crop of this section is the
most important crop that is raised, in
point of immediate profit. It has
made Princeton in large measure the
place that it is and the same is true
of about all the important towns in
the potato belt. ''As goes the potato
crop so goes business - might be said
with truth, and it is highly important
that farmers this spring exercise great
caution and care in the selection of
seed stock and the preparation of the
same. The seed stock is the first con-
sideration and in view Of the presence
of scab, rot, blight and all the ills
that the potato is heir to, it becomes
imperative on the farmer if he wishes
good potato crop to be sure he plants
seed absolutely free from faint or in
lection of any kind.
An Iowa City man says in the St.
Paul Dispatch: "a method of treat
ment has been recommended for
scabby seed which it is claimed will
largely decrease the yield of scabby
potatoes, if it will not stamp out the
disease entirely. The method recon-
mended is to soak the thoroughly
washed tubers for one and a half
hours in solution of two and one
fourth ounces of corrosive sublimate
in two gallons of hot water and to
dilute it to fifteen gallons. AS the
sulution is very poisonous it is rec
commended that all of the potatoes so
treated should be planted and the re-
naming solution disposed of, so that
stock may not be injured by it.
Metallic vessels are corroded by it,
one of the best as we'll as one of the
most convenient vessels being tub
or barrel. The potatoes so treated
must be dried thoroughly before be-
ing planted. It has been figured that
the cost of such treatment would not
exceed two cents per bushel. The
means by which the scab is transmit
ted to non-infected seed planted in an
infected plot of ground is called fun
gus"
''Potato scab appeared upon the po-
tatoes held over by many Johnson
county farmers and the men are in
tending to make strenuous efforts to
prevent it's temperance in this years.
crop. This disease is one of the most
peculiar of any of those which attack
vegetable life. It is as malignant and
contagious as is sheep scab in the
animal world, though neither bears
any relation to the other. Ground
which has once been planted with seed
infected with the scab and has pro-
duced a crop Of potatoes will continue
to produce scabby potatoes even if
sown with clean seed. How long the
ground will remain infected with the
so-called scab has not as yet been de-
termined, and the experiment station
which has been appealed to has not
been able to give any exact inform
alton. Several farmers in the county
are confident that if the land is used
for other crops, grain preferably, the
scab will disappear within three to
five years and the ground can once
more be used for growing potatoes. {"
In recent issue of the Union we
printed an article on potato rot writ
ten by F. M. Crosby in which he said:
Investigations, heretofore made,
show that the rot is caused by a
minute fungus upon the vines, and
that the disease is transmitted through
the vines to the tuber by the process
of circulation. Diseases of the body
are often transmitted to it through the
blood. There is a circulation in the
vegetable kingdom as we'll as in the
animal. The fungus is more liable to
appear and to be more disastrous in
wet seasons than in dry ones. It is
not water coming in contact with the
potato that causes it to rot. It is the
wet weather that causes the fungus on
the vines and that fungus causes the rot
of the tuber. It usually appears and
causes the vines to blight in the early
part of August. Potatoes that be-
come fully ripe before August LIST u.s.
ually escape the disease. The rot has
been found in potatoes in their wild
state in Chill and Peru. Spraying the
vines with Bordeaux mixture will kill
the fungus and save the tubers from
the rot. Prof. Woods writes: 1T is
almost certain that the soil where the
diseased potatoes have been raised has
been infested to such an extent that
it would be impossible to grow crop
there next year. Care should be taken
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