POTATO CULTURE.

Waipa Post, Volume V, Issue 211, 9 May 1913, Page 4

POTATO CULTURE.

A BLIGHT-RESISTING VARIETY

A farmer some four miles from Raetihi, ancl who is one of the leading potato growers in the district, has for the past five years been developing a variety from selection that is said to possess great blight-resisting characteristics, and is also partially immune to the effects of frost. The discovery of the original plants from which this improved variety has been cultivated was the result of observation and selection along the lines followed at plant-breed-ing stations. Its history may be briefly described for the benefit of those who. may observe similar conditions in crops under their care, and the benefits that may be derived by judicious selection. The original crop from which the improved tubers were taken was of the Eldorado variety, but the main area was badly stricken with blight, and practically ruined. There were, however, a few plants that proved entirely resistent, and bore a heavy crop. The most perfect of these tubers were reserved for seed, and planted the following year, when it was found that the whole crop resisted the blight. It was also noticed that this particular plot was less susceptible to frosts than the rest of the field, which was planted with ordinary seed. This process of selection has been continued to the present year, when a fairly large area successfully withstood the blight, although the season has been a bad one. -All the other varieties of potatoes grown on the same enclosure have been a failure, and now that the blight-resistent tubers have successfully stood a fairly good test of time they should prove a very valuable acquisition to the seed stocks for use on a larger scale in other districts. An officer of the Department of Agriculture visited the farm during last week, and saw some of the tubers lifted, and measures are now being taken to ascertain the exact parentage of this particular seed, and whether it is a true Eldorado or a “ sport.” Experiments will also be made with seed taken toother districts, and the results noted. In the meantime the farmer who has raised the seed is quite satisfied that he has found a tuber that will do well in his own locality under varying climatic conditions.