POTATO DISEASE.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 107, 9 January 1873, Page 2

POTATO DISEASE.

The report of the American Department of Agriculture, 1871, contains the follow ing particulars relating to tJtf, to the potato disease :—: — W} "The Pruss-an Agricultural Academy has been occupied since 1863 in mak.n^ Übjnous mieatigations mt > the mode of (iropogutiun anJ po»s b!e prevention ottiie poiato disease A report ofob>er\aUona has recently been publisl eu, h oiu which it appears that the following points, amongst others, nmy be considered as finally detenu ned .—A relationship and connexion between disease ot tne leal" and oi the tuber, and the iact t lat tne potato fungus u the cause of the wet rot of the potato. 2n«l. The wintering of the mycelium of tlio fungus in the diseased tubers is considered well estabbshed, and as needing no further verification. The mode of dissemination of the disease, however, is considered a? requiring additional investigation, including the development ot the mycelium of the infected tubers m the superficial portion of the joung plant, as well as the formation of the leaf fungus. The inquiry ib suggested also, whether the hrst ti aces of the leaf disease in the summer comes from the mycelium of the infected seed potatoes of the previous year. Experiments are also proposed for ascertaining whether, if the young plants aro completely protected from fcje entrance of fungus spores from the exterior, a diseased mother bulb would produce diseased plants. The effort to find some convenient mocle^" d'sinfection of iced pjtatoes, &.• the purpose of preventing the disease, boa not, so far, met with any satisfactory result. It is possible, of course, to destroy the mycelium of the fungus in the tuber by various means ; but this generally i jure- the tul at tho same time, ard prevents its growth. One very important feature accjii plished by these inquiries is the ascertaining that different varieties of potatoes vary extremely in their susceptibility to disease, some kinds being much more liable to infection than others. It is suggested t'tat the collateral inquiry bo carried out for the determina- , tun of the best \aneties of potatoes which enjoy a greater or less immunity from attick. What it is, in the plant or tuber, that causes this condition is not yet ascertnined, and it is thought that possibly when the cause is known the more sensitive varieties may be so modified as to have an equal advantage. According to some the difference consis|A in the degree of smoothness of the external skin of the potato, whilst others maintain that it depends upon thethickness of the skin "