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37 P Maleic hydrazide effectively
4
eve ts Potato . . . S
*-A I- in controls spronting of 8 varieties
· •
+   grown commercially in Kentucky;
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large losses prevented
-g By (1LYl)E SINGLETARY and ]AMES HERRON ·
aq
N Sprouting during winter storage is the cause of one The first experimental tests with this chemical to con-
of the greatest losses in stored potatoes. The Ken- trol potato spronting were encouraging. Following
V tucky Agricultural Experiment Station, along with favorable reports from several agricultural experiment ‘
if { other experiment stations, for many years has been stations, the chemical was tested at the Kentucky Agri-
,, experimenting with methods for preventing potato cultural Experiment Station in 1955. The experiment
’* spronting during storage. Several methods have been here was set up to test the effectiveness of the chem-
*2 proven to be successful, including cold storage; how- ical in controlling spronting of the potato varieties
ever, since cold storage is expensive and very few grown commercially in Kentucky. Those included in
_ é farmers have access to ternperature—controlled storage the test were Cobbler, Kennebec, Cherokee, Katahdin,
t, rooms, methods for use in common storage rooms have Nlerrimac, Saco, Teton and Delus.
_ been tested.
l Immediately following the war years, several of the SP"¤Y€d 3 Weeks B€f°"€ H¤"V€$l'
ha plant hormones were found to delay spronting of Tlw lmmtoes for the €Xl)€l`lm€“t WBW PlilUt€i`nai‘y 1956. when they were removed to a room
  ,;4~ x   ,    /V_,   A 4   where the temperature was controlled at 55°' to 65OF.
it- *‘””   sri         The \Vhen the tubers were examined in May 1956, those .
*   "   Z    _g——‘‘ '_ if i from unsprayed plants of all varieties had sprouts
' ,,   ,  Q;    5   i``“       I     K ranging in length from 1 to 4 inches. The sprouts on
w   ·_V, g       ·’·i QL   the tubers which were harvested from treated plants
Y ` iirili Z   -i’.s      ·‘    y p   ~    were less than % inch long (see illustration). Many
    `’i ‘’   ~ ```S    g_ t ubers had no sprouts. There was no difference in
V" li spronting among the varieties.
H These two potatoes illustrate the effectiveness of maleic
ya hydrazide in controlling spronting during winter storage. T|’€¤l’€d T\|l3€|’$ Sound Gnd Edible
* The plant which produced thctuber on the left was lsprayed Tljlj Sprouts w(,l.(, ].(,mOV(,d from both the tmutwl
i T, ‘;"l' {hi j‘l‘°;“l$"l {5 *`fficlfS_l)€a()fc llulilfsfl llvl izyhlch lim` and untreated tubers, and the weight of the sprouts
I (mu HL mul lu M1 l€(€W€( no wml dm) lm (mi per bushel of tubers was obtained. More than 2%
° pounds of sprouts were removed from each bushel of
t t¤1l>¢‘1`$ lll $t<>l'¤t—£¢’ Wlwll $lll`¤}’¢’wi¤s untreated potatoes, whereas less than 2 ounces of
Q potato plants a few weeks before harvest or dusted ou Sp,·m,tS Wwt. (,i,mi,,(.(i {mm pac], imshpi of tl.CutC(]
1 f1'¢‘Sl1l)’ (lull l)0t¥ll0 tUl)<’I`$· l'l(’“’<“’<’*`~ tlw l`<’$Ull$ “’<*l`<‘ tubers. ln addition, the untreated tubers were shriv-
r-4 f1‘<‘<1U<‘“tl}’ <’U`¥ltl€· eled and soft and, in most instances, unfit for table
A During the early 1950`s a chemical, maleic hydra— use. The treated tubers were still sound and edible
· xide, was found to act as an inhibitor of plant growth. after S months storage.
e, Kl·]N'l`U(TKY FAa:»t xxi) Hoang Sc:i1;xci·:~FAi.t. 1956 3