The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-11
Sweet Potato Disease

Owing to large losses which disease and decay have caused in the sweet po- tato crop held in storage this winter, particularly in the south. United States department of agriculture specialists earnestly recommend that growers take steps at an early date to prevent the use | or diseased potatoes for bedding, thus protecting the next crop from tie danger | of further losses. The three points upon which special emphasis is laid are: ! Careful selection and disinfection of | seed potatoes.
 l Care in preparing hotbeds.
 1 Crop rotations
 1 Before the potatoes are bedded they 1 should be carefully picked over. All
 with black rot spots and all badly muti- ! lated potatoes should be thrown out. { The sound, healthy ones should then be
 disinfected by immersing them for ten minutes in a solution made by dssolving ! one ounce of mercuric chloride crystals | in eight gallons of water. Tn this work only wooden receptacles should be used. For treating large quantity of pota- toes about 50 gallons fthe solution may be made up at one time. After treating the first ten bushels in this 50 gallons. one-half ounce more of the mcrcuric chloride crystals should be added, and also enough water to bring the total
 amount of the solution once more up to i50 gallons. The mercuric chloride crys- tals will dissolve readily in hot water.
 The potatoes should be treated just De- fore bedding. Rinsing in water after 1he ! treatment Is not necessary.
 | If mercuric chloride can not be ob- | tained, the potatoes may be diSipfected ! by immersing for five minute in a solu-
 ton of formaldehyde Commercial, 40 per | cent madesby diluting one quart of the ,formaldehyde. with 50 gallons of water.
 This solution can be used repeatedly
 without losing strength. The potatoes
 need not be rinsed, but should be bedded soon after the treatment.
 l If the old hotbed is to be used. the dirt should be carted away and replaced by
 new soil or sand from the woods or else
 where where sweet potatoes have never
 been grown. The framework should be
 disinfected by spraying with a solution
 of formaidehyde similar to that recom-
 mended above. All decayed sweet pota- ] toes and rubbish likely to harbor the dis
 ease germs should be raked up from
 around the bed and carted off or. pref
 srably. burned. ] Cover the potatoes with soil or sand or 1 the same sort as that used in making up | the hotbed. If manure is used for heat 1 ing be sure that it has not been infected with the disease germs by rotted sweet 1 potatoes thrown on it. If the bed is | near the barnyard, fence it in or cover lit with chicken wire to keep chickens Il dogs or other animals from running over ! it. since they may carry the disease | germs on their feet. By carefully following these directions, 1 slips free of diseases may be grown, | but they may still become diseased if they are planted on ground where diseased sweet potatoes were raised the previous I wear Therefore it is necessary to plant .lt the slips on new ground or on ground I where sweet potatoes have not been l grown for several years.
 Mosquitoes arc so numerous near the l<.1,st If Porneo that the sfrea yv,s of that