Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-01-21
ARKANSAS LOSES
 FROM PATATO ROT
Proper Handling and Better Care
 Will Keep Down Diseases.

By M. R. Ensign, Pathologist with the
 Extension Division, University
 of Arkansas.
 About 8 per cent of the Arkansas sweet potato crop is lost every year because of sweet potato rots. With an average yield of 85 bushels per acre and price of $110 per bushel, this means loss of $7.75 for every acre of sweet potatoes grown in the State, and most of this can be avoided by proper care in handling and in the storage of the crop.
 Arkansas people must take better care of their sweet potatoes and re- 1 duce these tremendous losses. In or der to take better care of their sweet potatoes. they must know the condi- | tions which cause these losses. They are as follows:
 Improper Storage. Right now the question of storage Is most important. In storage where the temperature is above 55 degrees or 60 degrees, and where the. ventila- tiOn is not adequate to remove the ex- cess moisture, the sort-rot fungus works rapidly and causes enormous losses. This emphasizes the necessity of having storage houses built accord ing to Government specifications, of kiln drying the potatoes when they are first stored. and of maintaining Temperature of about 55 degrees Fahr- enheit during the storage period. f{I.; Lack of Care in Handling. j. Great quantities, of sweet potatoes are lost. because of improper care at the .tfns i,of harvesting. The sweet potafo has a skin which serves much the same purpose as the skin on ami malls; that is, as protective covering. This skin Is very easily broken by throwing the potatoes from one row to another at digging time and han ding as if they were scrap iron. If this is done, an excellent place is pro vided for the entrance of decay -produc- ing bacteria and fungi. '~s< -tescf Decay-Producing Fungi Live in the Soil.
 Three common diseases of this kind, , Stem Rot (Wilt), Black Rot, Soft Rot, 1 are commonly found, which cause the plants to die, to produce inferior po- l tatoes, or rots them after they are practically grown.
 l The Stem Rot disease or Wilt causes a yellowing of the leaves and a black ing of the water-conducting tissues of the stems. The water supply is shut off from the leaves and they wilt and die. This trouble may attack the plant at any time during the growing sea- son. Consequently if potatoes are pro duced under diseased vine the fun gus will probably penetrate into the potatoes. By planting the cuttings produced from such diseased potatoes, the disease is carried from one place to another. Black Rot produces dark to nearly black, somewhat sunken, more or less circular spots on the DO tato. At first these are small. but un- der favorable conditions they enlarge and involve the entire potato This rot also is responsible for much loss in storage. The disease is spread from one field to another by diseased slips grown from potatoes affected with black-rot
 Rhizopus Soft Rot.-This is mainly a storage trouble. yet it sometimes does considerable damage to the crop in the field In low, wet, poorly drain ed soils the loss from this disease may be heavy. It is not difficult to recognize. as parts or all of the potato becomes wet, soft, mushy rot.
 Control Measures.
 1. Select your seed potatoes in the field to see that they are free from disease. By splitting the vines, one can determine the presence of stem rot or wilt by the blackened appear ance.
 2. Store them in a we'll ventilated, clean storage house, where the tenn perature can be held to about 55 de grees Fahrenheit after they have been thoroughly cured. Do not put them in too large piles.
 8. In bedding, use the soil but one year. Clean out all old refuse potato cull, etc., and bring in clean soil (sand). Dsinfect the frames and ground around them by using one pint formaldehyde to 30 gallons water.
 4. Treat the potatoes just before bedding in solution of corrosive sub Innate, one ounce to eight gallons ot water. for five to ten minutes.
 , Dc not use manure in the beds