How to Increase the Potato Crop by Spraying by F. H. Chittenden and W. A. Orton brings insect injury and plant disease into one illustrated agricultural bulletin. Farmers’ Bulletin No. 868 was first issued in September 1917; this copy is the January 1920 revision.
The title reflects the authors’ effort to improve yields by preventing losses. The contents range from individual insects to late blight, other diseases, field results and the equipment used to apply treatments.
Recognizing the Colorado potato beetle
The opening section gives considerable space to the Colorado potato beetle. The account describes its distribution, life history and injury, with illustrations of the adult, young stages and affected plants.
The pictures connect the insect’s appearance with the loss of foliage. A reader can compare the feeding stages with the visible condition of a damaged plant instead of relying only on a pest’s common name.
Maps and field photographs place the descriptions in an agricultural setting. They also show the geographic and experimental character of the publication, rather than presenting the observations as universal conditions.
Other insects on the crop
Separate sections consider blister beetles, flea beetles, cutworms, leafhoppers and plant lice. The authors distinguish different feeding habits and the kinds of injury associated with each group.
Some insects remove leaf tissue, while others injure the plant in ways that produce less obvious symptoms. This distinction gives the bulletin an interest beyond its treatment recipes.
The leafhopper discussion includes hopperburn and the use of a hopper-catching device. Drawings of insects and equipment help explain why different crop problems called for different forms of observation.
Historical names and classifications should be compared with current references when identifying an insect today. The illustrations remain valuable evidence of what the authors were describing.
Late blight and tuber rot
The disease portion explains late blight through its effects on foliage and tubers. A distribution map, affected leaves and cut potatoes accompany the discussion of causes and conditions.
By carrying the account from the growing plant into the tuber, the authors show how a field disease can affect the harvested crop. This makes the bulletin relevant to readers studying both production and storage losses.
Other diseases, including early blight and blackleg, receive briefer treatment. Their separate headings help prevent every unhealthy-looking potato plant from being assigned to one cause.
Experiments and combined treatment
A combined-treatment section considers insects and diseases within the same field program. The authors then discuss the value of spraying through reported yield comparisons and experience in different districts.
These results belong to the trials, weather and agricultural practices described. They are useful for studying how early agricultural services argued from experiments, but they should not be treated as a promise of present-day yield gains.
The bulletin repeatedly connects the timing and thoroughness of work with its outcome. That emphasis helps explain why the equipment section forms part of the argument rather than appearing as an unrelated appendix.
Equipment and historical mixtures
Spraying appliances range from hand and barrel arrangements to larger field equipment. Photographs show the working machinery and the scale of cultivation for which it was intended.
The final practical pages describe Bordeaux mixture and other treatments. The insect sections also discuss lead arsenate and nicotine preparations. These are historical chemical instructions, including hazardous substances, and are not current recommendations for treating food crops.
Readers can instead use these passages to understand the development of crop protection and the relationship between machinery, labor and the treatments available to farmers at the time.
Reading the scan
This free ebook suits readers interested in potato pests, agricultural illustration and the history of farm experimentation. Its strength is the combination of recognizable crop injury, life-history material and field equipment within a short publication.
The PDF contains 24 digital pages. It retains the illustrated cover, main text, figures, maps and closing lists of related government publications. Dark binding marks appear along some margins, but the page images and text remain readable. Enlarge small captions and maps when comparing details.
Book details
- Author: F. H. Chittenden and W. A. Orton
- Publisher: United States Department of Agriculture; Government Printing Office, Washington
- Year: 1920
- Edition: Farmers’ Bulletin No. 868; issued September 1917, revised January 1920
- Digital length: 24 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 1.20 MB
