Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-03-14
POTATOES AND PLANT DISEASE
Continued from page one)

maldehFde, either liquid or gas, will
prevent the spread of the Scab, Black
leg and Late Blight, that solution be-
ing the best known disinfectant.
Potato growers should aim, "a to
grow as pure seed as possible and (2)
to develop a strain which will be an
improvement over what he has been
using. During the growing season,
/ the best hills should be marked and
the diseased hills should be destroyed;
the potatoes in the marked hills
should be used for seed the next year,
so that in few years by carrying out
+ this process, fine grade of seed will
be obtained. This selection, though,
only improves the purity of the seed,
not the quality. Small, overgrown or
very large potatoes and culls should
never be used for seed Potatoes for
seed should be kept in the dark at a
| temperature of from 32 to 36 degrees
Preparing Seed for Planting.
Before planting any potato seed,
! treat it for scab and blackleg with the
formaldehyde solution. Reject seed
! that is discolored on the stem end.
Do not take very large or very under
sized tubers. | am in favor of hand
cutting. The sooner the seed is put
in the ground after cutting the better.
Too much cannot be done in the prep
aration of the seed bed for the potato.
The planter will give better results
than hand-sowing.
In Maine we find enough work on a
twenty acre field of potatoes to keep
man busy the whole season. We
use the high ridge culture because
we have lots of rain (more than in
this section) and because they are
easier to dig.
| Mr.. Borden asked whether the IL
quid or the gas formaldehyde was the
| better disinfectant. DR.. Woods said I:
with the gas you can treat greater
quantity of seed, but then there is the
danger of having so much that the
i gas does not come in contact with all
good as the liquid; the use Of the gas
requires an alright room. If the IL
quid solution is used, the seed should
be soaked two hours 1t is best to
soak the potatoes before cutting
there is no poison in formaidehyde.
After soaking them, it is all right to
I coat with sulphur, especially if they
are not to be planted Immediately. A
pint of formaldehyde commercially
called formalin') to 80 gallons Of
water is the proper strength OF the
solution. To check the fiea beetle.
spray with the Bordeaux mixture
about every six inches of growth of
the potato plant. .
Eor.ts1iunrc anI tho Coil
DR.. J. G.. Lipman, Director of the
State Experiment Station at New
Brunswick, gave the last talk, his sub
ject being Soil Treatment and Fer
tilization for Potatoes ? 1T takes
! time to make good potato soil, many
years" he said. Some sort of rotation
of crops should be practiced if good
crops of potatoes are to be expected
a three or four year rotation. Some
thing that will add vegetable matter
to the soil is necessary besides the
| fertilizers, for successful intensive
cultivation of potatoes.
Moisture is very important and with
out it no amount of fertilizers will
give good crop. Commercial ferti-
| lizers alone will not maintain the SOIL
/ L nG 1uOIS lCItlllZCI LIZZIE 10 uSGu, LIE
more acid accumulates in the soil;
| lime is very important in potato grow
ing. For a good potato soil, there
are four essentials: (D depth; CD a
soil that can take care of large
amount of plant food; (3) humus and
moisture; (4) lime. Lighter soils
need more fertilizers than heavy soils;
with modern methods of disinfecting,
the danger from scab is exaggerated,
even when lime is used. There is a
possibility of using too much fertili-
ger; in the case of nitrate of soda,
| too much will prolong the crop, while
i the proper proportion hastens it to
maturity.
Mr.. Borden asked if the fertilizer
should be used above or below. DIR.
| Woods answered the question by say
| ing that in Maine the fertilizer is used
at about the same level with the seed
on the first application; after the first
ridging, the fertilizer is again used,
and then there are many other ridg
! ings but no further application of fer
| tilizer. If 1900 pounds of fertilizer
| is to be used to the acre, 1000 pounds
should be used at the first application
| thine of planting), while the remain
| ing 500 pounds should be used after
the first ridging.
Mr. Warren Atkinson asked if the
potatoes would get the benefit of the
fertilizer if it were added just before
the potatoes pushed through the
ground Dr. Lipman replied by say
ing that they will get the benefit; at
least Indirectly, for action in the soil
bacteria will be stimulated. Potash
and phosphoric acid, plenty of it, near
the roots, is essential.
| ROOSEVELT WOULD DODGE
TARIFF.
L 4