The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1921-09-10
FIRST SWEET POTATO
TOUR TO INSPECT
SWEET POTATO FIELDS.

On Wednesday, August oath, the At
lantic County Board of Agriculture,
under the guidance of Arthur r. Ell
dred, County Agent, made a tour of
the certified sweet potato fields of At
lantic County, being accompanied by
w. r. Beattie, Extension Horticultur
list of the U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture; DR.. Mel 7. Cook, Plant Patholo-
gist, New Jersey Experiment Station;
Irving L. Owen, County Agent Leader;
Douglas S. Dilts, State Bureau of Mar
kets; C. H. Nissley, Vegetable Special
list, New Jersey State College; Prof.
L. G. Schermerhorn, of New Jersey
State College.
These officials, accompanied by near
five-score farmers and their wives, as
sembled at the Germania Fruit Grow
ers' Union Store, from which the tour
went to the farm of William Liepe and
Sons at Cologne. At this farm an OPP
%pOrtunity was given to see an excellent
field of sweet potatoes, in which the
inspectors from the State Department
of Agriculture, in two different inspec-
tions, found less than one-half of one
per cent disease. All of the people
piOoCll dSlccu ludl LILO Wdo tAC IilCot
sweet potato field they had seen this
year.
The next stop of the tour was at the
farm of George Liepe, also at Cologne,
where the same conditions were found.
From here the tour went to the upper
Germania district, where the farms Of
the Kienzle Bros. and Jos. Sahl were
visited. On all these farms there was
found less than one per cent disease
by the inspectors in two different in
spections.
At each Of the farms things of inter-
est were pointed out and discussed by
the men and officials. The next stop
at the County Farm at Mortified,
Of which H. w. Mcconnell is the SUI
pervisor. Here there were II different
varieties of sweet potatoes growing
and 20 different plots, which were fer
tilted with various mixtures and diff
ferent amounts.
Mr. c. H. Nissley, Vegetable Special
list, New Jersey State College of Agri-
culture, gave a demonstration with a
power sprayer, showing how to spray
for the blight of white potatoes. He
also pointed out some features in the
arrangement of the MOBILES on the
boom which will make the spraying
more efficient.
Prof. l.. G.. Schermerhorn then ex-
planned his plan of the fertilizer ex-
periments that he was carrying on at
the County Farm, and pointed out
of the results that could be de-
tected at this time from the different
plots.
GatrnroI hfIJc of oooJn re t1o J;fc0ra-+
varieties were dug so that the men
could see what the roots looked like.
Mr.. w. r. Beattie then pointed out
the characteristics of the vines and
roots of each of the varieties and the
ways in which they could be identified.
He also discussed the possibilities of
some of the varieties for this county.
He told the farmers to stick to the
old varieties and to let the experiment
station do the experimenting for them.
Following the talks and demonstra-
lions in the fields the people gathered
in the shade of the trees on the county
grounds to listen to talks by the fol-
lowing:
DR.. Mel. T. Cook then spoke about
the certification of sweet potatoes and
the difficulties which this work pre-
sents.
Judge e. A. Higbee, solicitor for
Atlantic County, gave his recollections
as a farm boy, and also paid a tribute
to the farmers for their splendid work
in combating sweet potato diseases
in the county.
Irving L. Owen then made a few
brief remarks regarding county agent
work in the state, and assured the
farmers that the State College Of Agri-
culture wanted to help them in every
way possible, if they would let them
know their wants.
AS far as known this was the first
sweet potato tour in the United States
to inspect certified sweet potato fields.
All sections of Atlantic County were
represented, and several prominent
inner were on the tour to find out
the possibility of canning sweet pota-
toes.
All those present felt that the day
was well spent and each one gained
some new points by seeing what the
other fellow was doing. The success
OF the tour was due to DIR. w. p.
Thompson and other officers of the
Atlantic County Board of Agriculture,
who with the assistance of Arthur r.
Eldred, County Agent, Mays Landing,
made it possible to bring the officials
of the U. S. Department of Agricul-
ture and the New Jersey State College
of A~oricultura into the pOuntV.