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Abstract: A survey of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) plant stands in upstate New York over a three-year period showed that the average distance between plants was 4 cm wider than intended. Plant stands averaged 83%. The failure to plant seed pieces was the major reason for missing hills. Seed rot was not generally a problem, although one field in the survey was severely affected. Speed of planting up to 6.7 km/h had no consistent effect on average spacing or uniformity of seed piece distribution. Seed type (whole or cut) and mechanical condition of planter influenced spacing. Experiments conducted over four years indicated that the non-uniform seed piece distribution delivered by commercial picker-arm planters does not adversely affect crop yield or tuber size. Non-uniform seed distribution with extremely high coefficients of variation (greater than 100%), however, affected yield, tuber size and tuber number. Tuber numbers and yields were decreased by reducing the number of seed pieces planted per unit area whether or not the pieces were uniformly spaced.

Rosa is a golden nematode resistant variety with chipping potential comparable to Norchip and with good cooking quality. It is resistant to early blight and leaf roll, and moderately resistant to late blight. Rosa is a hybrid between North AmericanSolarium tuberosumssp. and South AmericanS. tuberosumssp.Andigenaclones.

The Yankee Chipper potato is a medium maturing variety with round to oblong, smooth, white-skinned tubers. Acceptable yields, good dry matter and light chip color characterize this widely adapted variety. It is resistant to golden nematode and virus X, and tubers do not show the net necrosis associated with leafroll virus infection.

Abstract: Castile is a golden nematode Race A (Globodera rostochiensis) resistant potato variety with the potential to produce high marketable yields of attractive tubers suitable for tablestock and processing. Tubers are oblong to long, slightly flattened with a smooth white skin and moderately shallow eyes. Vines of this variety are large, providing a dense canopy, and require a full growing season similar to that needed for Katahdin. Timely irrigation produces high marketable yields, stress conditions can limit yields. Specific gravity in New York State averages 0.005 above Katahdin and 0.009 below Atlantic. Tuber flesh is bright white. Baking and french fry quality is good. Chip color, when tubers are stored at 10 C for 120 days, is equivalent to Atlantic. Castile is resistant to corky ring spot, pinkeye, and moderately resistant to Fusarium rot.

Elba is a high yielding cultivar which combines resistance to the golden nematode, foliar infection byPhytophthora infestansandAlternaria solani, andVerticilliumwilt. Elba is a late maturing tablestock cultivar especially well adapted to organic soils. In small plots and on farmers’ fields it has demonstrated its worth in reducing the need for foliar fungicides to prevent blight.

The Islander potato variety is a medium maturing variety with oblong, shallow-eyed, white-skinned tubers. High dry matter and good chip color characterize this variety which is better adapted to Long Island, New York and New Jersey than to other northeastern areas. It is resistant to golden nematode and net necrosis; moderately resistant to common scab and early blight; and less susceptible than most varieties to acid scab and Rhizoctonia. The Islander is a product of the cross Chipbelle × Norchip.

Abstract: Genesee is a late season, golden nematode and scab resistant table-stock variety with a bright, white skin. It is also resistant to Verticillium wilt, and early blight.

The sprout inhibitor chlorpropham (CIPC) was applied in varying concentrations to individual eyes of potato tubers. Sensitivity of a given eye to CIPC depended upon the status of the remaining eyes on the same tuber. If the remaining eyes were inhibited, higher concentrations of CIPC were required for inhibition of the given eye. Apical eyes were more sensitive to CIPC than were lateral eyes. It was confirmed that CIPC is highly volatile and that contaminating levels of CIPC vapors can induce a rosette sprout growth. Seed potatoes treated with low concentrations of CIPC before planting sprouted more slowly than untreated potatoes, and the delay was related to CIPC concentration. At high CIPC levels, total emergence as well as rate of emergence was reduced. However, emergence was far greater than would have been anticipated from the sprouting of similar treated lots held in storage.

Hampton is a golden nematode resistant variety suited for main season tablestock production. It is resistant toVerticilliumwilt, but susceptible to scab and late blight. Hampton yields as well as Katahdin and produces essentially the same distribution of tuber sizes. Its shape is distinctively spherical with shallow eyes. Its specific gravity is like Katahdin and it will not produce acceptably light colored potato chips.

Summary: Red clover samples were collected from fourteen fields in upstate New York. Ten samples were from fields where the clover had been grown in rotation with potatoes sprayed with sodium arsenite as a vine killer. The other four fields were not treated with arsenic in any form. Analyses of the arsenic content of the samples failed to reveal a correlation between the arsenic content of the red clover foliage and the amount of sodium arsenite applied in the preceding ten years.