H O M E AXT> FzVRM MAGAZINE SECTION
Diseases of Potatoes
By H. L. Rees, Plant Pathologist of the State College of W ash­
ington.
k n ° 7 " a" b,a<,1i le* Wa8!w ilh »
th a t it has been pres
ravaient
ln«s en t k here , fo
. r - several
....... ... i ____
. . disfignra
...
a p p a ren tly rath e r p B rev
alen t last
years. A
y e a r in W estern W ashington, as it tion and an abnorm al shrin k ag e causes
» also in th e East. This disease is quite th e losses su stain ed as a resu lt o f the
aérions a t tim es and ap p aren tly came a tta c k of th e silver scurf.
to th is country from Europe.
Only A ffects the Tubers.
Sym ptom s This disease is ch a ra c te r­
ized by th e black, shriveled condition of
Symptoms-—T his disease does not a f
the stem from th e seed piece to as much feet the vines, only th e tubers. In the
as several inches above tho ground io parly stag e of in fection under moist
some cases. T his is accom panied by conditions d ark green or alm ost black
w iltin g and dying o f the tops, usually spots ap p ear on th e su rface of the tuber.
ra th e r e arly in th e season. The tubers L a te r these spots may enlarge and
a tta c h e d to th e a ffected stem s are cover the whole surface of the potato.
usually ro tte d a t th e stem end if the W hen dug th e a ffected areas may be
stem is atta c k e d before th e tu b ers are circu lar sp o ts or m any m ay have
fo r m e d .
coalesced, fo rm in g one large one, and,
Cause— T his disease is caused b y b a c ­ as stated , m ay cover th e whole tuber.
te r ia and in M aine w here it has been The a ffe c te d areas are spotted w ith
studied it does not live over in th e soil. fin e black points, and may bo dis­
W hether th e clim atic conditions in colored. A t th is tim e a silvery sheen or
W estern W ashington make th is possible g listen in g app earan ee is ap p aren t and
is not know n. I t does n o t spread from by these tw o la tte r ch aracteristics the
one p la n t to an o th er and th e only meth disease can be easily recognized. As the
od by w hich it is known to be spread is skin of th e tu b er in case of severe in
by p la n tin g diseased tubers.
feteio n s usu ally th e whole tu b er will be-
Spraying Is o f No Value.
iomo shrunken and shriveled. Some va
C ontrol and P rev en tio n — S p rav in g is rieties are b adly discolored such as the
o f no value a t any tim e. Since it is only Ix>o, Gold Coin. S uperlative, others show-
know n to spread by p lan tin g diseased medium or slig h t discoloration such as
seed, and since it dons n o t spread from E arly B ird, P u rita n , E arly Acme, E arly
hill to hill, only th e p lan ts from dis R ockford and Irish Cobbler.
eased seed will be affected . To abso
Cause— T his disease is caused by a
lu tely control th is disease p lan t only p arasitic fungus capable of in fecting
clean seed. The m ethod fo r d eterm ining th e tu b e r a t any point. W hether this
th is is as follow s: In c u ttin g tu b ers al disease liv es over in the soil, how it
w ays m ake th e firs t cu t through th e a ffe c ts germ in atio n , and o th er questions
stem end directly through th e stem . If arisin g are still open and not settled.
an y d ark , discolored areas show any
Concerning the Fungus.
place in th e tub er, especially a t the
Control and P revention—One thin g is
stein end, no m atter how slig h t, discard
i t E x tra knives and a ja r of 4 or 5 known concerning th is fungus, however,
p er cent form aldehyde solution should and th a t is th a t the f-n g u s which lives
be provided and if by chance a diseased over in th e tubers in the sclerotia
tu b e r is cut. pu t th e k n ife in to th e not killed b y seed treatm en t. For the
form aldehyde solution and use an o th er present th en a careful exam ination
k n ife fo r th e n ex t p o tato cut. The should be m ade and nn affected tu b er
seed should not be cut u n til immedi used fo r seed. Although at present this
ate ly before p lan tin g and should not be disease does not seem to be very p rev a­
allowed to stan d around iu the field len t th is is p robably because it. lias not
y et been recognized by th e growers. Re
fo r any len g th of tim e.
enuse of its possible seriousness careful
Silver Scurf Disease.
and p a in stak in g selection is urged.
A new disease o f po tato es which w as
O ut of 76 v arieties grow n on the
brought to th e w r ite r ’s a tte n tio n last
fall by Dr. W ollenweber o f th e U. 8.
D epartm ent o f A g riculture is th e silv er
sc u rf disease of p otato, known in
E urope since 1871, b u t only in the U n it­
ed S ta te s to r a short time. T his disease,
though little known, is ap p aren tly b e ­
coming w idespread in ike S tates and
ce rta in ly gives indications o f shortly a f
fe c tin g nearly th e whole o f tho p o tato
crop. T his has never been reported b e­
fo re from W ashington nor, to the w rit
e r ’s know ledge, from the P acific Coast,
an d seems to bo a new disease to th is
region. H owever, its presence in Wash
ington and th e circum stances connected
W estern
W a s h in g t o n
E x p e r im e n t
S ta
tion farm in I91S, 80-60 per cent were
more or less a ffected , some seriously.
The seed of these v arieties were __
all
tre a te d for scab and th a t th e prevalence
o f the silver scu rf disease w as not due
to in effectiv e or im proper treatm en t is
shown by th e absence of p o tato scab
on th e tu b ers dug a t th e end of th e
season. P a rt o f the seed w hich pro
dueed affected potatoes w as obtained
from th e E ast and p art w as obtained
from stra in s which had been grown on
the statio n farm for several years. This
fu rth e r indicates the necessity fo r p lant
ing only clean seed.
The Potato Starch Question
Should Be F u ly Investigated as It Is Believed the Industry
W ould Prove Profitable.
H E value o f th e p o tato fo r manu to t th e ir crop into starch in local green
fac to rin g purposes, p articu larly for starch facto ries, shipping th e green
th o production o f starch and glu starch to a cen tral refin ery , th u s re
eo.se, is one th a t should be fully investí dueing tran sp o rtatio n charges on the
g a ’.ed, as it is believed such an in d u stry crop as well as securing a p ro fit from
w ould not only be p ro fita b le in itse lf th e culls.
n n d er N orth w estern conditions, b u t
The starch used in th e N orthw est, ...
all
would o ffe r a most v aluable o u tlet fo r
th e culls, w hich a re bow largely w asted o f which is shipped in from th e een
by the O regon and W ashington, farm er, tra l states and thus is a ta x upon the
Bnd, even more im jiortant, would in consnmer, m ig h t w ith p ro fit both to
•o re a ste a d ie r m ark et fo r th e crop th e m an u factu rer and th e farm er, be
•a c h year, regardless o f flu ctu atio n s iu produced here in Oregon and W ashing
•opply and dem and fo r tab le consum p­ ton. The N o rth w est m arket alone would
tion. In o th er words, in those fav o rab le moro than consume all of th e starch
Seasons when a very h eavy crop w as th a t a large facto ry , w ith its trib u ta ry
produced and the m ark et price w as low, green starch p lan ts, could produce. E x ­
• r in thp seasons when a large portion p erts have estim ated th a t such a fae
o f the potatoes were culls or not suffi- to ry here could carry on a p ro fit­
•ie n tly m atured to sell well fo r tab le able business and pay th e fa rm e r 50
use, the atareh facto ry would furnish cents a hundred fo r all o f th e potatoes
a. p ro fitab le o u tlet fo r the crop. On he could produce. This price would give
th e other hand, grow ers who do not th e farm er an excellent p ro fit on ail of
•are to m eet ‘he requirem ents fo r pro his cull potatoes and a very good p rofit
ducing m ark etab le tab le potatoes, could upon th e e n tire crop if raised fo r starch
raise the la te r m atu rin g and heavier m an u factu re alone. I t w oeld also in
yielding v arieties solely fo r sale to th e sure a more stab le m ark et fo r ta b le po
■torch facto ry . Even more im p o rtan t tato es, as well as a higher grade o f the
th an this, would be th e fa c t th a t potato sam e, thus in creasing th e shipm ents to
grow ing sections o f Oregon and Wash o th er states. F u rth er, such an in d u stry
in g to n which aro now d is ta n t .'rom th e would bring a superior starch to the
m ark et and m ost pay a heavy tra n s­ consumer, as p o tato starch is o f much
higher food value, because of its g reater
p o rta tio n charg e oa th e ir shipm ents,
d ig estib ility , th an the corn starch now
•ould convert all bu t the very choicest
READ EVERY WORD!!
Mr. Rancher!
Mr. Merchant!
Mr. Cattle Man!
Mr. Hop Grower!
Mr. Fruit Grower!
you protect the amount of Dollars on your Bank
against the CHECK RAISER?
Do jo u know that American Bank records show losses
through bad check men of $500,000 in 1900, $5,000,000 1906,
$15,000,000 in 1911 and the awful total of $23,000,000 in 19131
WHO! will he called on to stantl this enormous yearly
loss.- The Farm er! Yes, because most city business men now
use Cheek Protection. W hY do you, at a yearly expense,
protect your farm buildings, crops and slock against loss by
fire, storm anil disease, YET! neglect to protect the total
cash receipts of all your hard work, your Bank account.
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Sign and Mail This Order.
COMMERCE UTILITY CORPORATION,
411-12-13-14-15 i'anam a B uilding,
P ortland, Oregon.
Ship me one R obert H. Ingersoll New Era g u aranteed Check P ro ­
tecto r C. O. D. $10.00 by Parcels Post, prepaid.
-------------- Name.
----- ---- - Address.
SAFETY
F IR S T !
™ ".
th e "loffnn o f ll.e day. I t applies to investm ents as well as
Other tilings, ( an you get a big incom ■ from vour money w ith p erfect
saietyT Isn I there alw ays danger of losing a crop or a lot of stock
nr In have the m ark et drop nn you! C ertainly, we all know it. Rut GOLD
is alw ays w orth $20 an ounce— and i f you invest in a proven gold miuo
you a re safe.
n
4 O ° /o
fo r y o u r m o n e y
is th e p ro fit we can show you. We are raising mouey fo r a 100 ton p lant
— not. to prospect fo r ore. We havo the ore developed to a depth of
300 feet.
INVESTIGATE NOW.
The California Consolidated Mines Co.
63 Sixth Street.
H. w . Manning, Pre«.
LICENSED
T
UNDER
“ BLUE
SK Y ”
LAW.
Mail This Now.
77t« California Consolidated Mines Co.,
63 Sixth Street, Portland, Oregon.
G E N T L E M E N : I ’leasc send complete inform ation about
your mines.
— -------------------------------------------------------------------- _ _ JV acme.
------------------------------------ ------------------- Address.
-J
E arning C apacity
KING OF THE WOODS’’ DRAG SAW
W it h or W ithout Buzz Saw Attachment
ill a w 2 0 to 4 0 cord* o i w ood per day at a coal oi
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P U L L S I ¡ S E L F up the deepest H I L L and
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A nother sawed 4 0 coriis in 9 hours.
There's
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:ninery Co.
rM ttA W ’rtAfi.Ok’i O