Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-12-07
.C0NQUER|NG THE
NEW POTATO WART
United States Department Of
Agriculture Makes Interest
ing Announcement Regarding
Disease.

of officials from West Virginia, Penn
sylvania and Maryland with the fed
eral horticultural board of the United
States department of agri culture called
to consider the status of the potato
wart disease show thr-t there has been
only a slight sprePd of this recently
discovered menace to the potato indus
try of America, and that by planting
immune varieties further losses from
the disease ran be practically elimi-
mated. The potato wart is one of the
most dest .uctive maladies attacking
potato crops in Europe, and heretofore
no mea MS has been known for eradi-
C; ting it from the SOIL once a garden
or !. iield becomes infected. Not only
have the investigators for the United
States department of agriculture found
varieties of potatoes which are i'm
mune, but they have devised a method
of thoroughly disinfecting the soil by
the use of steam and formaldehyde.
AS result of the conference in
Washington it is announced that the
state authorities of West Virginia and
Pennsylvania will take steps to assist
gardeners in the infected regions in
the purchase of varieties of seed known
to be immune. 1t may be found ad-
visable also to undertake the disinfec-
ton of limited number of garden
proximately $1,000 an acre the efforts
along this line will be limited until the
most effective and economical methods
have been discovered.
Since the discovery Of potato wart
something more than year ago in
eastern Pennsylvania painstaking
search by a large number of official
and volunteer investigators covering
wide area revealed the disease in
ntt,ft, fSxx in IIf-
zerne county, Pennsylvania. and in the
following villages of western Pennsyl-
vania: Manly Clio, Lilly, Llanfair, Vim
tondale, Osceola Mills and Clarence.
In two West Virginia towns, Whitmef
and Thomas. infection was discovered
also In the former village there was
one infected garden and in the latter
eleven. 1t is in these areas that strict
measures looking to the suppression of
the disease will be resumed the coming
season. Almost all of the gardens in
fected belong to miners who have used
cheap seed and have planted small gar
den plots to potatoes season after sea
son. The common custom of throwing
| potato Feelings and other garbage on
the garden plot is thought partly re-
sponsible for these areas being badly
infected.
| The wart Is a disease attacking the
tubers and also the stems, causing ir-
regular, warty discolorations beginning
in the tender tissues near the eyes and
charging until the entire potato may
be changed into black and worthless
mass. Young gals are whitish OF
greenish, suggesting cauliflower head
| In the recent outbreak the disease
manifested itself in a severe form
practically destroying all crops In
many gardens.
! To determine whether or not Amer
| lean and oAher varieties were immune
or. resistant to this disease large
number of commercial varieties and
promising seedlings, as well as 20 i'm
mune English varieties, were grown the
past season in wart infected areas
| Among the commercial American va.
rieties the following were found to b,
immune: Irish Cobbler, Johnson:
Flour Ball and Early Petoskey of thu
| Cobbler group, and the Spaulding Fou1
of the Rose group. All of the immun,
| English varieties kept their immunit,
when planted in Pennsylvania. Tit
seed was imported from England
Seven of the English varieties gav'
excellent yields this year, but thei
| adaptability to American conditions il
still in doubt. 1t is believed that BY
the planting of immune varieties in in
fected areas and by the fumigating o
the sail In certain instances the dis
ease can be effectively stamped out
/ Fumigation is carried on by sprink
ling solution of formaldehyde on tn
soil and then covering the infecte,
area with wooden box. Into this DO:
steam is injected at high pressure
causing the formaldehyde to penetrate
the soil for a foot or more. See
grown in this soil produced entirel.
healthy plants, showing that ever,
trace of the disease had been elimi
mated.
There are said to be more Serbian
in Pittsburg and it's immediate vlcin
ity than there are in Belgrade, TIL
capital and metropolis of Serbia.
In China, it is the custom to drin
wines hot. The thrifty Chinese be
lieve that heated wine intoXicates NOR
eXpeditiously than cold wine.