Jasper County Democrat, Volume 20, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 May 1917 — TREAT SEED POTATOES [ARTICLE]

TREAT SEED POTATOES

The Prevalence of Scab ton the HighPriced Seed Potatoes This Year Makes It Imperative That They Be Treated With Chemicals Before Planting. ’ [National Cm 3 latirsvtaeat Stole*.] . While the operation of treatins’vis comparritiveiy simply, ■ Hose. atteri tien must be given to the direction and details followed ■ absolutely. Your care les.-ries.- may mean ruin ®f the po-, tatoes or dancer to children or stock. Simply—Be Careful. ‘ ; According to your conditions and equipment, the seed potatoes may be treated in crates, loose in barrels or in sacks Treatment must fee done before the potatoes are cut or sprouted. The commonest method is to mix one pint of formaldehyde (be sure it is full strensrhi with thirty gallons, of water. Soak the seed stock in this solution for two hours, just before you are ready to start cutting. This solution may be re-used two dr three tim.es, if no time is lost between batches, One Of the easiest ways is to place the solution in a barrel and place a sackful pf potatoes in it at a time. • ” , ■ |

Corrosive sublimate is an excellent Chemical .to use, arid will kill rhizic- , tonia aS well as scab, but it is a deadly poison and must be kept where children or stock will not get it. All ves- ■ seis used with this material should be carefully cleaned afterwards. If you prefer this, use four ounces of corrosive sublimate to thirty gallons Of water, and sdak the potatoes for an hour and a half. The powdered chemical shlould first be dissolved in hot water and then added to the main i solution. Do not use metal vessels. After treating, the potatoes should be promptly washed in clean water until all traces of the solution are gone, and they they should be carefully dried, tile sooner the better. It only takes a little time and very little money to treat all your seed potatoes by either method, and it pays bie in larger yields of better potatoes, free from disease.