LIME TREATMENT FOR POTATO BLIGHT

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 298, 3 August 1917, Page 1

LIME TREATMENT FOR POTATO BLIGHT

Mr W. Harris, Fields Inspector, Ohakune, supplies some particulars to the '• Journal of Agriculture " regarding a means of controlling potato blight by dusting the plants with lime. The treatment was adopted by him some years ago when farm manager at the Papatoetoe Orphanage, near Auckland. He states : " This method was adopted when, in spite of steeping the tubers and regular spraying, the blight appeared, and by its means I was able to save crops when not a potato plant was left standing within miles. [ usually got a number of boys with buckets, and instructed them to throw the lime with force along the ground between the rows. The plants being wot (for the blight always appeared on a moist muggy morning) the lime adhered to every part of the plant, including the under-side cf the leaves. The affected leaves soon fall off, leaving the stems stiff and erect with numerous young shoots still fresh and green, and usually within a week the rows are again filled up with luxuriant foliage. After leaving Papatoetoe I only grew small crops for my own use, and never spnyed at all, pinning my faith to the lime-dusting ; sometimes two or three applications were necessary during the season. It may be luck, but I have never had a single blight-diseased tuber for ten ypars. I use shell lime, but fresh hydraulic lime slacked as required would be just as suitable. The main idea is to have the liuie fresh and to throw it between the rows with such force as to create quite a cloud over all the patch."