POTATO DISEASES AND THEIR PREVENTION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXV, Issue 4253, 29 June 1895, Page 3

POTATO DISEASES AND THEIR PREVENTION.

In the latest of the " Leaflets for Farmers," Professor Kirk deals with "Some Diseases of the Potato and How to Prevent Them." Dealing with macrosporium solani, a dreaded form of fungus, the professor says: — "The remedy for, or rather the preventive of this, and, indeed, of other potato diseases of fungoid origin, is Bordeaux mixture, to which, ■where insects such .as the bronze beetle or potato moth attack the foliage or stem, a little Paris green should be added, as follows : — 41b sulphate of copper, 41b fresh lime, 4oz Paris green, 31b common treacle, 45gal water. Dissolve the copper in, say, sgal of water in a wooden vessel ; the best way is to tie it in a loosely-woven bag, and suspend the bag from a stick laid across the tub, or, if in a hurry, use hot water. Slack the lime in another vessel, and add it to the copper solution ; stir well till thoroughly mixed, then add sufficient ■water to bring the whole up to 45gal. Now strain out any dirt, then stir in the treacle. Mix the Paris green to the consistency of thin paste, and add it to the mixture, stirring well. Apply with a proper spray-pump with a cyclone nozzle, first when the potatoes are between 6in and 9in high, and twice later at intervals of about ten days. Repeat if necessary. If the treatment above adyocated is carefully carried'out, it will prove effectual in preventing the attacks of both insect and fungoid pests. The Bordeaux mixture prevents the germination of fungus spores, and the Paris green will poison the tiny grubs directly they hatch and begin to eat into the vine."