The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1920-08-27
VITAL PROBLEM
FACESFARMERS
RAISING SPUDS:
Immediate Steps Must
Be Taken to Provide
1000 Cars of Seed Po-
tatoes for Next Year.

Boise, Ida, Aug. 26.-In a state.
ment urging that potato growers OIL
Idaho "look out for seed potatoes now
E. R. Bennett, field horticulturist Of
the University of Idaho extension div.
ision, says that 1000 cars Of seed will
be required to plant Idaho's mex,
years crop of potatoes and that far.
mers must begin to select the tubers
they will plant.
Other things being equal" he says
"the yield and quantity of any cror
of potatoes will depend on the quality
and freedom from disease of the seed
used in planting the crop. Thi;
statement of we'll known truth has
been brought forcibly to my mind
again and again in the past month
while looking over some hundreds oil
fields of growing potatoes that we
have just seen in trip over the po-
tato counties of Idaho.
I'VE pride ourselves on the biz
yield and fine potatoes grown in
Idaho and we'll we may for no state
in the union produces better, but we
eral OF them and they are becoming
more numerous.
How it Starts
1.-TWO years ago we found a few
plants in the fall that had gone down
from the effects of the black leg
disease. On this recent trip we have
turned down great number of fields
of seed potatoes because of the pres
ence of black leg Last fall we saw
a fine field of potatoes-fne except
that there were here and there over
the field plants that had stems blask
and decayed just above the ground.
Some of the tubers from these plants
decayed. Tubers from, the plants with
less of the infection did not show the
disease at all. Seed from this field
was planted on many different farms
in that county, and the seed looked
good, but there is now a high per-
centage Of plants in every one of
these fields that have we'll developed
cases of black leg ...
"Rhizoctonia and fausarium are both
also common. The rhizoctonia and
to lesser extent the fusarium are al
ways with us, but we must not en-.
courage either of them By planting
seed known to be infected with them.
We also have several other insidious
and elusive though none the less
dangerous diseases, showing up here
and there in our fields. The most
common of these is the calico Causing
plants to have white patches on their
leaves. It is not fatal, but it does
reduce the yield of the tubers of that
plant-and we don't want it. We
find in many fields, especially of the
Idaho Rural variety, many plants with
small, weak stems. The lower leaves
get a rusty appearance and fall off.
The plant continues sickly all sea-
son and makes less than half a yield.
The disease comes back the next year
in greater numbers. We don't want
it.
Among the Gems this year we find
in many fields a great percentage of
weak, dwarfed plants. Many grow .
ers attribute this to dry weather a,
planting time. They are wrong.
These plants, traced back to the seed.
show many tubers that instead of
sending out normal sprouts, developed
only weak, spindly sprouts, the size
OF darning needle. This is the
'spindly sprout' disease. We don't
want it,
What to Do
What shalt we do? There is a
choice of three things that we can do.
First we can discard the whole lot
and get seed elsewhere. though we
may not help matters much, as the
other fellows seed may be equally
bad. Second. we can dig out and de-
stroy all the plants in the field that
arc weak or diseased. This is FEAST
bic only where the percentage of bad
plants is small, and it is not advisable
where the fall stage of black leg
is evident This method must be fol-
lowed where certihcation of seed is
desired, and the work must be done
thoroughly. Third. we may go into
the field when the plants are nearly
mature. but before they are ripe or
frozen down. and after carefully ex-
aiming the plants. select those that
are desirable and have a clean bill OF
health, for our next vear'a seed eroo