1970] MUNRO: TRIENNIAL POTATO CONFERENCE 183

NEWS AND REVIEWS

REPORT OF TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE OF EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION FOR POTATO RESEARCH --

Some 250 delegates from 26 countries attended the Fourth Triennial Conference of the European Association for Potato Research held in Brest, France, from September 8 - 13, 1969. The relatively large delegations were from France, The United Kingdom, Germany and The Netherlands. Many who attended from the various countries are also members of the Potato Association of America, but the American association was repre- sented at this conference by the President, James Munro, and by two Past Presidents, Ora Smith and Richard L. Sawyer.

The languages used in conference sessions and for official receptions and excursions were English, French and German, and simultaneous translations of these languages were made at plenary and business sessions. Professional interpreters attended section meetings, accompanied the ex- cursions, and were present at all receptions. The choice of language used after presentations of papers for consequent discussions within session, on occasion, was made by common agreement with participants.

Continuous activities within the European Association were controlled by seven specialist sections: Agronomy, Engineering, Pathology, Physi- ology, Utilization, Varieties and Virology, and papers presented at tri- ennial conferences were given in concurrent sessions of appropriate sections. Consequently sections prepared for a triennial conference as independent units within a parent body, but occaasional joint sessions with sections of overlapping interests such as Varieties and Pathology, were arranged. Well prepared separate sessions of the different disciplines for a triennial conference were the natural outcome of a section structure, which is strengthened by section meetings in the years between conferences. The various disciplines in potato improvement work were separately emphasized and results from the various phases of work reported were well discussed by the specialist groups within sections. However, because of the number of concurrent sessions of similar interests, attendance at some sessions was small and at times reduced to a discussion group. This, of course, was highly desirable on occasion when much more could be obtained from some of these small sessions than from the more restrained discussions in larger groups.

Brest was well chosen as a centre for the conference because it is in one of the most important seed potato growing areas in the country, and appropriately located not too far from the old French province of "Maine." The town is also quite close to a technical station at Landerneau where the Federation Nationale des Producteurs de Plants de Pommes de Terre selects, maintains and multiples virus-free and clonal selections of commercial potato varieties. Excursions included a visit to this Station and to the Station d'Amelioration de la Pomme de Terre, also at Lander- neau, where potato breeding, variety trials and other phases of potato research are in effect. The facilities of the universitv in Brest, other than for residence, were made available for the conference.

I compliment the European Association for Potato Reseaarch on the

184 AMERICAN POTATO JOURN~AL [Vol. 47

publication of the paperback book "Potato Research in Europe 1%8" which lists the potato research projects, workers and institutes in the various countries of Europe. The Association has also published an excellent "Dictionary of Technical Terms Relating to the Potato." The dictionary contains 1900 terms in each of the three official languages of the Association, and all in common use relating to all aspects of work and investigations, or problems in potato improvement work. It is a revised handbook of the first edition produced by this same group with the added close cooperation of G. Monot and A. R. Wilson. Many members of the European Association engaged in more fundamental aspects of potato research are anxious to change the name of the journal to one that is more appropriate to their work.

It is expected that the Fifth Triennial Conference of the European Association for Potato Research will be held in the United Kingdom in 1972.

JAMES MUNRO, President, The Potato Association of America, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada.

USDA PROCESS ELIMINATES MAJOR POTATO PROCESSING POLLUTANT

Potato peels are about 75% of the waste discharged by processing plants using conventional peeling methods, and about zero percent in a method developed and patented by U. S. Department of Agriculture scientists.

Peel waste produced by U. S. potato processing plants is estimated at 1 billion pounds - - much of which is only partially treated then re- leased into waterways to become a serious pollution problem.

A process called dry caustic peeling, which keeps virtually all of this peel waste out of the effluent, was described April 8 at the National Symposium on Food Processing Wastes in Portland, Ore.

Extensive tests have shown that dry peeling not only effectively elimi- nates the peel waste problem, but decreases processing cost and removes less of the edible part of tubers than present methods.

Engineer Robert P. Graham, one of the scientists who developed the process, gave the report. He and his colleagues conducted the development research at the Western Utilization Research Laboratory, Albany, Calif., division of the Agricultural Research Service.

Other ARS scientists who helped develop the process include engi- neers Dr. Charles C. Huxsoll, Marcus R. Hart, and Dr. Arthur I. Morgan, Jr., and plant physiologist Dr. Merle E. Weaver.

Except for the actual peeling operation, Mr. Graham said, the new process is not greatly different from present processing. In both processes, preparatory steps are to wash potatoes then treat them with a lye solution to soften the peel.

The present procedure in most plants is to remove the softened peel