Observations on the potatoe, and a remedy for the potatoe plague. In two parts. Containing a history of the potatoe, its cultivation, and uses, also a treatise on the potatoe malady, its origin and appearances in different countries, a view of various theories concerning it, with the remedies proposed, and an inquiry into the causes producing the disease, with directions for staying its further progress

OBSERVATIONS

‘ON THE POTATOE,

AND A

REMEDY FOR THE POTATOE PLAGUE.

Int W OP ARTS.

CONTAINING A

HISTORY OF THE POTATOE,

ITS CULTIVATION, AND USES,

ALSO

A TREATISE ON THE POTATOE MALADY,

ITS ORIGIN AND APPEARANCES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, A VIEW OF
' VARIOUS THEORIES CONCERNING 1T, WITH THE REMEDIES
PROPOSED,

AND AN INQUIRY

INTO THE CAUSES PRODUCING THE DISEASE, WITH DIRECTIONS FOR
STAYING ITS FURTHER PROGRESS.

BY CHARLES P. “BOSSON,

Member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Editor of the N. E. Agriculturist,
Author of a Treatise on the Sugar Beet, etc., ctc.

Eo S-T ON
PUBLISHED BY! Eko PRATT:
1846.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846,
By E. L. PRATT,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

Boston :
Printed by S. N. Dickinson & Co.
No. 52 Washington St,

CONTENTS.

CHAP T EH Rel,

Some Account of the Appearance of the Disease in different parts
of the World.

Action of the British Government — Report of the British Commission-
ers — Proceedings of the French Academy of Arts and Sciences —
Report of Professor Morren—H. S. Thompson on the prevention of
curl and dry rot in potatoes — experiments with ripe and unripe seed
— Causes of the disease stated —Conclusions of Mr. Thompson —
Objections to his theory considered, . : : : ° . o7—77

CHAPTER. 12.
A View of the different Theories entertained on the Potatoe Plaque.

First symptom of degeneracy of the plant in Scotland — Diseased tu-
bers examined — Seeds from an over-grown crop will always be a
diseased crop — Remedy proposed — Raising from the apple — Dis-
ease supposed to be caused by rust — European pamphlets on this
subject — Result of chemical investigations — Conversion of diseased
potatoes into starch — Evil ascribed to too much moisture — Fungi
analogous to smut in barley — Remedies against fungus — Disease as-
cribed to various causes — Professor Liebig’s opinion — Ascribed to
fungus in the leaf— Sporules of fungi— Experiments in planting dis-
eased potatoes — Disease supposed to attack the stem primarily —
On new high ground the crop less affected — Opinion of J. E. Tes~
chemacher— Salt a remedy — Analysis of sea-weed— A. B. Allen’s
opinion — Cause of fungi, and remedies proposed, A , . 76—94

CHAP TES LL,
Cause of the Disease and Remedies stated.

Review of the prevailing theories — The disease exists in the potatoe
— If fungi is the cause a certain remedy is at hand — Causes of the
disease —Over Ripentinc — OveR CuxtivatTion — DETERIORA-
TION OF SEED— CARELESSNESS IN SELECTING SEED — Improper
management in taking up potatoes — An improved method of plant-
ing — Table — Selecting potatoes forseed, . +» «+» +» 95—116

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CONTENTS.

PART. 2:

CHAPTER’ F-

Page
Some account of the early history of the potatoe —Its introduction
into Great Britain and other European countries — Extravagant price
of potatoes, : 5 : ’ A - 5 . : : 3—7

CHAP. TER, TI.

On the Cultivation of the Potatoe.

When first cultivated as a field crop—Thaer’s principles of agricul-
ture — Classification of varieties—Skin of the potatoe — Color of
the flesh— Nutritive matter contained in different sorts— Soils
—Clearings and marsh lands—Strong land —Setting potatoes —
Best sort for seed — Comparative value of whole and cut tubers —
Quantity of produce is in proportion to seed — Plowing the land —
Manner of setting potatoes — Influence of the weather in planting, 7—15

CU APT BB EET
On Planting Potatoes, Harvesting, &c.

The marking plow — Harrowing — First cultivation — Tenacious and
wet soils — Effect of cutting off the blossoms — Effect of cutting off
the leaves — Digging the crops— Gathering — Potatoes dug in dry

CONTENTS.

weather —In damp weather— Heaps of potatoes — Management of
the heaps in autumn. : c - 5 5 : : - 16—20

CHAPTER IV...

An Account of Diseases which have previously affected the Crop, and
the Remedies that have been found efficacious.

Subject to disease at an early period — The curl— Probable causes of
the curl — Observations of Mr. Knight — Discovery by Mr. Crozer —
Failure or taint — The drought of 1826 — Remarks of Mr. Shirreff—
Deterioration of varieties— The potatoe a short lived plant — Late
planting recommended by Mr. Knight— Over ripened and wnder
ripened seed — Effects of comparative wet and dry soils on whole and
cut tubers — Scab or ulcerated surface — Causes of total or partial
failure have existed from a very early date — Planting of entire tu-
bers recommended — Rust, black rust — A description of this disease
— Cause assigned — Observations on the disease from various author-
ities — Dr. Yan Martius on the epidemic diseases of potatoes —
Views of Rey. Mr. Allen, 5 3 3 5 - : . 21—34

CH eA.P oT EUR. -V..

Various Uses to which Potatoes are applied.
ipp

Comparative value of potatoes and grain — Potatoe flour — Farina in po-
tatoes —Meal of potatoes may be preserved—Tapioca from potatoes —
The process described — Potash from.potatoe leaves and stalks; Po-
tatoes for cleaning woollens — Making wine and ardent spirits — Ger-
man method of making potatoe flour — Method of using potatoes in
Denmark and Norway, . : : : : . : - 389—A42

PART II.

THE POT ATOR PLAGUE.

Preliminary Remarks. -

Importance of the subject —Extent of the crop in the United States —
Review of various theories concerning the malady, . . . 43—056

PREFACE.

PoTaTOES, as an article of human food, are, next to wheat,
of the greatest importance in the eye of the political econo-
mist. From no other crop that can be cultivated, will the
public derive so much food as from this valuable esculent;
and it admits of demonstration, that an acre of potatoes will
feed double the number of people that can be fed from an
acre of wheat; they are relished by every palate, and, it is
believed, there is hardly a dinner served up in any country
where they are cultivated, without them.

An article of such vast importance, — that forms a grand
staple of our agriculture,—the principal source of national
wealth, — that forms a prominent article in the diet of every
individual, — deserves the particular attention of every one;
and the object of this treatise is, to collate the most important
facts in the history of this esculent, as well as the opinions
and practice of the best cultivators, with regard to its manage-
ment, the cure of diseases affecting it, and every other item
of information respecting it that can be turned to profitable
account by our own farmers.

But more particularly, and above all, my object has been
1

ii Preface.

to collect facts, opinions and remedies, on the alarming and
fatal disease that now threatens destruction to this UNIVERSAL
FOOD FOR MAN, and to furnish the conclusion which emi-
nent practical men have arrived at, both in this country and
Europe, on the causes of the disease, and the appropriate
remedy for it. Itis believed that a sure remedy has been
discovered, and the subsequent pages of this book will detail
such facts as will encourage farmers to proceed with the cul-
tivation of the potatoe crop in all confidence.

Independent of the particular object for which this small
treatise is especially designed, to wit: —the cure of the Po-
tatoe Plague, farmers will find much valuable information on
the general cultivation of this crop, which will be valuable
for reference long after the plague, (may its reign be short !)
has disappeared.

HISTORY, CULTURE, AND DISEASES OF THE
POTATOL.

PAY.

CHAPTER I.

Some Account of the Early History of the Potatoe; its In-
troduction into Great Britain and other European Coun-
tries.

Tue Potatoe now in use, (Solanum tuberosum,) was
~ brought to England by the Colonists sent out by Sir Walter
Raleigh, under the authority of his patent, granted by Queen
Elizabeth, “for discovering and planting new countries, not
possessed by Christians,’ which passed the great seal in
1584. Some of Sir Walter’s ships sailed in the same year;
others, on board one of which was Thomas Herriot, after-
wards known as a mathematician, in 1585; the whole, how-
ever, returned, and probably brought with them the Potatoe,
on the 27th of July, 1586.

This Mr. Thomas Herriot, who was probably sent out to
examine the country, and report to his employers the nature
and produce of the soil, wrote an account of it, which is
printed in De Bry’s Collection of Voyages, vol. I. In this
account, under the article of roots, page 17, he describes a

4 Early History of the Potatoe.

plant called Openawh: “These roots,” says he, “are round,
some as large as a walnut, others much larger; they grow in
damp soil, many hanging together, as if fixed on ropes; they
are good food, either boiled or roasted.”

Gerard, in his Herbal, published 1597, gives a figure of
the potatoe, under the name of Potatoe of Virginia, otherwise
called Norembaga. :

The manuscript minutes of the Royal Society, December
13, 1693, tell us, that Sir Robert Southwell, then President,
informed the fellows, at a meeting, that his grandfather
brought potatoes into Ireland, who first had them from Sir
Walter Raleigh.

This evidence proves, not unsatisfactorily, that the potatoe
was first brought into England, either in the year 1586, or
very soon after, and sent from thence to Ireland, without de-
lay, by Sir Robert Southwell’s ancestor, where it was cher-
ished and cultivated for food before the good people of Eng-
land knew its value; for Gerard, who had this plant in his
garden, in 1597, recommends the root to be eaten as a deli-
cate dish, — not as common food.

It appears, however, that it first came into Europe at an
earlier period, and by a different channel; for Clusius, who
at that time resided at Vienna, first received the potatoe in
1598, who had procured it the year before from one of the
attendants of the Pope’s legate, under the name of Taratoufli;
and learned from him, that in Italy, where it was then in
use, no one certainly knew whether it originally came from
Spain or from America.

Peter Cieca, in his Chronicle, printed in 1555, tells us,
chap. xi., p. 49, that the inhabitants of Quito and. its vicini-
ty, have, besides Maize, a tuberous root, which they eat, and
call papas ; this, Clusius guesses to be the plant he received
from Flanders, and this conjecture has been confirmed by the

Early History of the Potatoe. 5

accounts of travellers, who have since that period visited the
country.

From these details we may fairly infer, that potatoes were
first brought into Europe from the mountainous parts of
South America, in the neighborhood of Quito; and, as the
Spaniards were the sole possessors of that country, there is
little doubt of their having been first carried into Spain; but
as it would take some time to introduce them into use in that
country, and afterwards to make the Italians so well ac-
quainted with them as to give them a name,* there is every
reason to believe they had been several years in Europe, be-
fore they were sent to Clusius.

The name of the root in South America, is Papas, ane in
Virginia, it was Openawh; the name of potatoe was evident-
ly applied to it on account of its similarity in appearance to
the Battata, or Sweet Potatoe; and our potatoe appears to
have been distinguished from that root, by the apellative of
Potatoe of Virginia, till the year1640, if not longer.

Several authors have asserted, that potatoes were first diss
covered by Sir Francis Drake, in the South Seas; and others,
that they were introduced into England by Sir John Haw-
kins ; but in both instances the plant alluded to is clearly the
sweet potatoe, which was used in England as a delicacy, long
before the introduction of our potatoes; it was imported in
considerable quantities from Spain, and the Canaries, and
was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed vigor.
The kissing comforts of Falstaff;{ and other confections of
similar imaginary qualities, with which our ancestors were
duped, were principally made of these eringo roots.

* Taratoufli signifies also truffles.

+ Gerard’s Herbal, by Johnson, p. 729.

¢ “Let it rain potatoes, and hail kissing comforts.” — Merry Wives of
Windsor, Act V., Scene V.

1*

6 Early History of the Potatoe.

The potatoes themselves were sold by itinerant. dealers,
chiefly in the neighborhood of the Royal Exchange, and pur-
chased when scarce, at no inconsiderable cost, by those who
had faith in their alleged properties. The allusions to this”
opinion are very frequent in the plays of that age.

CHAPTER II.

Cultivation of the Potatoe.

Ir was not till 1771 and 1772, that the practice of cultivat-
ing potatoes as a field crop began to acquire supporters; but
at that time all the grain crops failed, and the famine which
ensued led to the discovery that proper and sufficient nour-
ishment might be derived from those very potatoes which
had hitherto only been regarded as a luxury, just as well as
from bread. Still its cultivation did not exceed the wants of

_man himself. It was not till a later period that the practice
| yao giving the refuse and surplus to the cattle began to creep
in. But it was thus gradually discovered that potatoes might
be advantageously cultivated as food for live stock. Bergen,
in his “ Introduction to the Management of Live Stock,” was
the first to recommend the practice of this cultivation ona
large scale, and the use of a kind of horn hoe to save manual
labor. At the present day it appears scarcely credible that
the extreme utility of this plant should have so long remain-
ed unknown, and that so much difference of opinion should
have existed on the propriety of raising it on extensive tracts
of land. .

“There is no plant,” says Thaer, in his “ Principles of
Agriculture,” “to which I have paid greater attention than
to the potatoe. Even before I entered upon the practice of ©
agriculture, my attention was excited by the innumerable
varieties which were produced by raising it from seed. I

8 Cultivation of the Potatoe.

treated it in various ways at that time, merely with a view to
vegetable physiology, my object being to discover whether
the distinguishing characters of these varieties were due to
the nature of the soil, or the mode of fertilizing it. Since
that time I have, in raising the potatoe, tried all the methods
proposed by others, as well as those which I have myself
devised. As far as the quantity of produce is concerned, the
results of various modes of planting and cultivation have
shown but little difference, unless, indeed, the cultivation
were altogether neglected or badly arranged. ‘The quantity
of produce was found to depend upon the soil, when the spe-
cies cultivated was the same. But the manual labor, and,
consequently, the net profit, varied considerably. I have
done my utmost to reduce this manual labor to the smallest
possible amount, without sensibly diminishing the produce,
for, in the raising of potatoes the rent of land is much less
considerable than the expenses of cultivation.

“T will venture to say, that I have attained this object more:
nearly than any one else, and that I have found myself near-
er and nearer to it at the end of almost every successive
year. I therefore beg those persons who have read my for-
mer works,* and the observations which I have made on the
culture of the potatoe, to consider such observations as the
result of my apprenticeship, and those which I am now about
to make, as more complete and matured.”

In order to make some sort of classification of the innumer-
able varieties of the potatoe, we must confine our attention to
the most useful part,—the tuber. It is true that the leaves
and the flowers appear to bear some relation to the form of
the tuber, but the particular examination of them belongs
more properly to the botanical cultivator.

The skin of the potatoe is, in some varieties, of a dark
color, approaching almost to blackness; in others of a red-

* Thaer’s English Agriculture, vols. 1 and 2.

Cultivation of the Potatoe. 9

dish violet, which varies to pale, brownish, or yellowish red ;
in others, again, of a whitish yellow.

The color of the flesh is sometimes yellow, sometimes
whitish, or perfectly white, and sometimes slightly tinged
-with red.

The several varieties of the potatoe have different times
of arriving at maturity; that is to say, at the state in which
the tubers are detached from the maternal plant, and the lat-
ter dies.

But the points of difference we have chiefly to consider,
relate to the consistence of the potatoe and the quantity of
starch contained in it. Some varieties are very spongy, their
interstices are filled with water, their specific gravity is small,
and they contain but a small quantity of nutriment in a given
bulk.

The flavor of some potatoes is very agreeable; of others,
very disagreeable. Some improve by keeping, others are
best when fresh gathered.

Some cook speedily and burst, others resist the action of
steam and hot water for a long time.

Some varieties require a dry soil, becoming quite watery
and hollow in the middle when grown on land which requires -
much moisture; they also secrete water in their cavities.
Others, on the contrary, are very small, and are scarcely
worth the expense of cultivation when grown on a dry soil.

Some put out long filaments into the soil; others press
their tubers so closely together, that they show themselves
above ground. '

Some varieties thrive particularly well on marshy land,
others perish on it, and thrive on an argillaceous soil.

All these particulars must be taken into account, when a
selection is to be made of varieties for cultivation. The cul-
ture of anew variety should never be undertaken on a large
scale, till a proper trial has been made of it.

10 Cultivation of the Potatoe.

The amount of produce of each variety must be taken into
consideration, but the value calculated according to the quan-
tity of nutritive matter contained -in it. This may be judged
of approximately by the sensation which the fleshy part of
the tuber produces when applied to the tongue; or more ac-
curately by cutting the tubers in pieces, drying them, and com-
paring their weight in the dry state with what it was before ;
but an accurate estimate is only to be made by chemical an-
alysis. Great bulk is by no means. desirable, if it be not
attended with increase in the quantity of starch: for the pota-
toes then take up more room, although their intrinsic value
remains the same, and they are more likely to be spoiled.
In other respects when potatoes are cultivated for sale, the
choice must be directed by the taste of purchasers.

Potatoes will grow on soils of all descriptions, and in favor-
able weather will yield a good crop, even on moving sand,
provided that it has heen well manured. On a stony soil,
well prepared, and lightened with dung, containing straw,
the success of the potatoe is certain; though a sandy soil is
best adapted to it.

On clearings and marsh lands, provided the soil has been
well drained, and especially if the turf has been burned upon
it, potatoes thrive particularly well, and sometimes yield a
very large produce.

It is generally admitted that potatoes grow larger after
recent manuring; they will, however, yield a good crop even
when raised as a second or third crop; but the soil will then
be greatly exhausted. I have never even thought of assert-
ing that potatoes do not impoverish the soil ; on the contrary
Ihave stated that they do so; they do not, however, exhaust
the resources, of the establishment in general, but increase
those resources to aconsiderable extent, 7f they are given as
food to the cattle.

On strong land, fresh dung mixed with straw is most ben-

Cultivation of the Potatoe. i

eficial to potatoes, and the more so in proportion to the close-
ness of its contact with them; it should, therefore, not be
carted and put into the ground till just before the seed time
of ploughing. But for light soils, the dung must either be in
a more advanced stage of decomposition, or it must be mixed
with the earth by several ploughings.

Very healthy potatoes are also produced by the use of
other active manures, such as scrapings of horn spread in the
furrows at the seed time ploughing, rags of wool, and the
refuse of the tan yard. Turning sheep on to the field after
the potatoes have been set, is likewise very efficacious in
promoting their growth, but it gives the tubers a bad flavor.
There is also a limit to the degree of cultivation proper for
potatoes ; if it be surpassed the haulm becomes excessively
large, and falls upon the ground; the number of tubers is
then much diminished.

In setting potatoes, it is necessary to select the most healthy
and vigorous tubers; not such as have already been depriv-
ed of two or three of their buds, because the most vigorous
buds are always the first chosen. Especially must those be
rejected which have been much exposed to the cold, even
though they should not have been much injured by frost.
Potatoes grown in pits, mounds, or hollows, where frost has
penetrated and destroyed a portion of tubers, are very uncer-
tain in plantations; I am sure of this from my own experi-
ence. They either do not shoot up at all, or produce but
feeble plants; great care should therefore be taken to pre-
serve those which are intended for setting.

Jam aware that many cultivators have obtained abundant
crops of large potatoes by planting none but small tubers;
nevertheless I prefer setting those of large and average size,
especially for certain varieties. Small tubers have not the
same power of germination as large ones, and often do not
germinate at all; whereas, those of large size may without
injury be cut in halves.

12 Cultivation of the Potatoe.

When circumstances are otherwise favorable, very strong
plants are often obtained by setting mere cuttings of potatoes
containing a single eye; or, even the eye by itself. But on
heavy land, which has not been well pulverized, as well as
on a sandy soil, there is great danger of failure, if, after
setting, or during germination, the weather should be unfa-
vorable for the formation of the plant. To ensure success,
this plant must, by means of its feeble roots, immediately
seek for nourishment in the soil. It must not encounter a
hard piece of ground: for, as it derives no nourishment from
the maternal plant, it would then dry up and perish. I
therefore abandon this method altogether, although I former-
ly recommended it ; it succeeds very well in gardens, but is
very uncertain for potatoe crops grown in the open field.

There will always be a difference of opinion touching the
expediency of setting potatoes close together, or far apart;
for the decision of this matter depends upon adventitious cir-
cumstances ; but repeated trials accurately described, seem to
show that the quantity of produce is, to a considerable ex-
tent, in proportion to that of the sets. The practical results
of these trials are as follows : —

1. The amount of net produce, deduction being made for
the quantity of potatoes used for setting, bears a tolerably ex-
act proportion to the latter quantity,— that is to say, that
one who sets a larger quantity of tubers, will usually obtain a
more abundant crop than one who sets a smaller quantity. -

2. Fine large tubers produce not only larger potatoes, but
also a greater number of them.

3. The degeneracy often observed in potatoes, apparently
results from the use of unhealthy plants for setting.

4. Small tubers, and those which are destitute of buds,
cannot by any means be recommended for setting.

5. When potatoes of medium quality are planted, it is bet-
ter to set them whole; but when the tubers are very large,

TT

Cultivation of the Potatoe. 13

_ the halves w “ill be found sufficient, provided, homenen; that

they are set rather closely in the rows.

6. It is not advisable to cut a potatoe into more than two
pieces.

7. It is better to set the tubers, one by one, and close to-
gether, than to put a number of them into the ground togeth-
er, particularly when all the labor is performed with the:
plough, and no cultivation is given with the hand-hoe.

8. It is not advisable to plant mere buds ; they often fail.*

I give these principles as being in accordance with my
own experiments made on the large scale, with the exception, -

“however, of the first. It does appear, from actual experi-

ment, that the quantity of produce is in proportion to that of
the potatoes put into the ground. The author deduces a
result by dividing his plantation into two parts. In one of
these he places the trial in which the quantity set amounted
to more than 1,254; and in the other, those in which this
quantity was less. In the former the net produce of each
row was 16.81; in the latter, only 15.41. These two results:
are in the proportian of 1000 to 917. The loss in the latter

is, therefore, 85 per cent., but the difference in the relative

quantity of the sets is much greater. Then, again, among
the trials included in the latter division, there are several
which ought not to be included in the comparison: where,
for example, the set consisted of mere eyes, or handfuls of
very small scattered shoots, all of which gave but a very
insignificant product. If we take into account those trials
only in which good potatoes, or cuttings of them, were set at
intervals of 1, 2, 38 and 4 decimetres,f it will be found that
the difference is very small, not exceeding two and a half.
per cent.

* German Agricultural Gazette.
t+ A French measure of about three and a half inches.

\ 2

14 Cultivation of the Potatoe.

I am willing to admit the existence of this difference, and
even of one of five per cent., if the potatoes are set in one
part of the rows, at eight inches, and in another at twenty-
four inches distance; so that the quantity of sets used for the
former shall be three times as great as that used for the lat-
ter. The quantity obtained from the half in which the pota-
toes are at the greatest distance apart, will not amount to
more than ninety-five bushels beyond that of the sets, while
the produce of the other half will amount to one hundred
bushels.

On the other hand the practice of setting at greater distan-
ces is attended with the following advantages, in field culti-
vation.

1. Potatoes, especially those fit for setting, bring a much
higher price in spring than in autumn, which is the time for
gathering; the keeping of them occasions both trouble and
risk, and there is always a portion spoiled.

2. Setting at greater distances occasions saving of manual
labor.

8. When the plantations are laid out im rows in all direc-
tions, and the distances between the rows are wide enough to
allow the plough to pass crosswise, almost all the manual
labor which would otherwise be required to weed the spaces
will be saved. f

4, These ploughings are much more efficacious in cleans-
ing, pulverizing and aerating the land, than they would be if
performed in one direction only, so that the object of follow-
ing one of the principal ends of the culture of weeded crops,
is completely attained. We say nothing about the effect pro-
duced on the potatoes themselves, by cultivation on all sides,
since we have admitted, for argument’s sake, that those»which
are cultivated on one side only, yield the greatest increase.

5. The gathering of potatoes is performed with far greater
facility and despatch when they are grown on separate hil-

—

Cultivation of the Potatoe. 15

locks, than when they are arranged in continuous lines, My
farmers are more willing to raise potatoes planted singly, for
the fourteenth part of the produce, than for the tenth when
they are planted in rows, for a man will raise eighteen schef-
fles of the former in a day, where of the latter he would raise
only ten, even though they may have been cultivated with
the same care. This saving of time in taking the crop is of
great importance. .

Such are the reasons which induce me to prefer the meth-
od of setting potatoes at moderate distances, and arranging
them in lines in all directions. I admit that when this meth-
od is adopted, a somewhat larger extent of surface is required
for the production of a given quantity; but the great saving
of labor, and the excellent preparation of the land which it
affords, are of much greater importance.

In setting potatoes regard must be had to the state of the
weather. In this country I never plant them till the soil has
become heated; and I have always observed that the pota-
toes set last were the first to come up. I have planted them
with success till the beginning of June; but I endeavor to
get the setting finished by the middle of May. If the soil
contain ever so small a quantity of clay, it is absolutely ne-
cessary to defer the planting till it is Loita dry, and no
longer adheres to the implements.

As early as possible in autumn I break up the soil to the
depth of two inches lower than before, and then pass the har-
row over it. In winter the dung is carted and uniformly
spread. At the beginning of spring, this dung is buried by a
light ploughing. I like to have a portion. of the manure
brought up to the surface by this operation, because a greater
quantity is then collected around the roots of the potatoe.

CHA PO RR. Ls

On Planting Potatoes. Harvesting. Preserving the Crop.

In the preceding chapter I could not resist the temptation
to copy entire Mr. Thaer’s article on potatoes; it seemed to
me so characterized by clearness and perspicuity, so emi-
nently practical, that I could not, with propriety, withhold it
from a compilation of the kind in hand; besides the article is
new to American readers, and cannot be uninteresting. I
continue in the present chapter, the account of Mr. Thaer,
embracing some suggéstions, the most important to us at the
present time, on the subject of keeping and preserving pota-
toes through the winter. The extract commences with Mr.
Thaer’s method of planting, which was alluded to in the
previous chapter.

By means of the marking plough, or furrower, already
_ noticed, lines, or small furrows, are traced at right angles, or
obliquely, to the direction which the plough is to take. Five
persons are then stationed at equal distances on the line of
the plough, each having assigned to him the space which he
is to plant. One plough traces the furrow, which is imme-
diately set with potatoes ; ‘two other ploughs then’ follow, and
the potatoes are set in the furrow traced by the third. It
will be understood that the persons who set them will haye to
go from one side to the other, each one keeping within his
allotted space. Each potatoe is set at the point of intersec-

Cultivation of the Potatoe. 17

tion of the line traced by the marker, with the furrow formed
by the plough. It is of importance that the potatoes be set
as close as possible to thé perpendicular side of the furrow,
and not on that where the slice has been turned over ; for, in
the former position, the potato is more likely to remain in its
place, and not to be disturbed by the horse’s foot.

The best ploughmen must be employed to trace the fur-
row in which the potatoes are set; first, to ensure that the
furrow may be of a proper and uniform depth, — three inches
on a heavy, and four or five on a sandy soil. If the laborers
are well practised three ploughs and five planters will finish
eight acres per day.

A week after the setting, the ground is harrowed, an op-
eration by which a few weeds are destroyed. Great numbers
of them afterwards spring up. Nothing more, however, is
done to get rid of them till the potatoes are about to spring up
and some of them just beginning to show their leaves above
ground. The extirpator is then passed lightly over the
whole surface of the field. This may be done without fear
of hurting the potatoes. The whole of the weeds are thus
destroyed. The soil is left in this state till all the potatoes
have come up, and is then harrowed to level it. After this
harrowing, the potatoes are as clean as if they had been care-
fully weeded, so that it only remains to pass the horse-hoe or
cultivator over them.

The first cultivation is performed with the small hoe, and
should be given in the direction followed by the marking
plough or furrower; the second must be performed by the
horn-hoe and in the direction of the plough. This will be
sufficient in the greater number of cases. If a few weeds
should have escaped here and there, by growing close to the
potatoes, it will cost but little labor to pull them up while yet
in flower.

By these operations the cultivation is completely finished

2*

18 Cultivation of the Potatoe.

before harvest time; and nothing remains to be done for them
till they are ready for taking up.

When the soil is tenacious and exposed to humidity, I
prefer the following method of cultivation:

The soil having been well prepared, lines crossing trans-
versely are traced with the marking plough, and a potatoe
set at each intersection. The planting goes on much more
‘quickly in this way; one man can easily plant three acres
per day. The small horse-hoe is then passed close to each
row, and covers it with earth. When weeds spring up, they
are destroyed by passing the large horse-hoe in the same
direction, an operation which is performed whether the pota-
toes have come up or not. When the potatoes have grown
up to a certain height, the banks or edges formed by the
hoe in the last cultivation are cut transversely with the large
hoe; another and final cultivation is perhaps given in the
direction of the first. ;

The advantages presented by this method when applied to
an argillaceous soil are very striking. The potatoe is sur-
rounded on all sides by light earth, and dung heaped around
it. It is preserved from-any excess of moisture that might
injure the crop, because it is placed above the bottom of the
furrow by which the water drains off. The soil in which it
rests is also thoroughly warmed by the sun. But this meth-
od is recommended for those soils only in which potatoes
might suffer from excess of moisture, as a sharpish frost
attacking the potatoes before they were gathered might pen-
etrate too deeply into the ridges.

When the earth has been laid up for the last time, and the
potatoes begin to blossom, they must be left quiet; for it is
then that the young tubers are formed.

Some persons have recommended that the flowers be cut
off, in order to increase the growth of the tubers; but the
recommendation is absurd. Cullen, of Edinburgh, observed

‘

Cultivation of the Potatoe. 19

some time ago, that the developement of the tubers keeps
pace with that of the flowers; and experiments especially
directed to this point have uniformly shown that the crop ts
much injured by the removal of the flowers.

Cullen also tried the effect of cutting off the leaves as fast
as they grew; the consequence was that the potatoes pro-
duced no tubers, but merely filamentous roots. The experi-
ments of Anderson, showing the injury occasioned to potatoes
by the hasty removal of their leaves, are conclusive against
this practice.

The digging the crop has always been looked upon by
great cultivators as the most difficult part of this branch of
husbandry, and has been the main cause of their unwilling-
ness to undertake it on a large scale. This fear, has, how-
ever, greatly diminished; it has, indeed, been found, that the
getting in may be performed with greater expedition and fa-
cility than was formerly thought possible. They are taken
up by means of a mattock, or potatoe hoe. When they are
planted according to my method, one man can with such an
instrument easily prepare work for twelve pickers. In this
manner potatoes can be taken up with less work than with
the plough.

In gathering potatoes, I make use of boxes, which hold
about thirty bushels, and are placed on waggons. In one
side of these boxes is an opening, which shuts by means of a
- sliding door. When the boxes arrive at the barn the door is
opened and a kind of gutter adapted to the opening, and
along this gutter the potatoes descend to the place intended
for them. |

Potatoes dug in dry weather may with safety be placed
immediately in a cellar, or store-house, protected from frost ;
but the place in which they are kept must be left open, to
afford a free circulation of air, till cold weather comes on.

20 Cultivation of the Potatoe.
But if the potatoes are raised in damp weather, it is better to
spread them out on a floor, and let them dry there.

A point of great importance is to cover heaps over with a
layer of straw, at least six inches thick. This layer of straw
should be thickest near the ground; it should there extend
beyond the heap of potatoes, -xo as completely to prevent the
access of frost. The straw should be well filled at the sum-
mit and angles, and the whole covered up with earth. It is
not, indeed, the earth which protects the potatoes from frost ;
this effect is produced by the straw, which prevents the radia-
tion of heat from them; but the earth should be closely pressed
to prevent the air getting through the straw. Earth which
has no consistence and easily crumbles is, therefore, unfit for
the purpose ; if no other can be obtained, some kind of coy-
ering must be placed over it.

A precaution very necessary to be observed, is not to close
the heaps completely in autumn so long as the weather con-
tinues warm. A small quantity of air must be allowed access
through the top till the_frost comes on; a vent will thus be
afforded for vapors which rise ‘from the heap. Covering
the heaps with dung is always useless and often mischievous.

When a thaw comes on it is prudent to open the heaps a
little at the top, to permit the escape of vapor.

Cub A Pol ER p hin

An Account of Diseases which have previously affected the
Potatoe, and the Remedies that have been found efficacious.

In finding materials for this chapter I must necessarily
confine my attention principally to English publications, as
English writers on agriculture have noted and marked the
nature, effects, and cure of the various diseases which have
affected this root, with more exactness and precision than
have characterized American writers on this subject.

The potatoe is subject to disease at a very early period of
its existence, not merely after it has developed its leaves and
stems, but before the germ has risen from the sets. The
disease which affects the plant is called the curl, from the
curled or crumpled appearance which the leaves assume
when under the influence of the disease. What the imme-
diate cause of the disease is, it is very difficult to say; but
the puny stems and stinted leaves indicate weakness in the
constitution of the plant, and, like weak animals affected with
constitutional disease, the small tubers produced by curled
potatoes, when planted, propagate the disease in the future
crop. The curl is so well known by its appearance, and the
curled plant so generally shunned, as seed, that the disease is
never willingly propagated by the cultivator; still there are
circumstances in the management of the tubers which induced
the disease therein. The experiments of Mr. T. Dickson

22 Diseases of the Potatoe.

show, that the disease arises from the vegetable power of the
sets planted, having been exhausted by over-ripening, so that
sets from the waxy end of the potatoe produced healthy plants,
whereas those from the best ripened end did not vegetate at
all, or produced curled plants. It is the opinion of Mr.
Crichton, that the curl in the potatoe, may often be occa-
sioned by the way the potatoes are treated that are intended
for seed. “Ihave observed,’ he says, “wherever the seed
stock is carefully pitted, and not exposed to the air in the
spring, the crop has seldom any curl; but where the seed
stock is put into barns and not houses, for months together,
such crop seldom escapes turning out in a great measure
curled; and if but few curl the first year, if they are planted
again, it is more than probable the half of them will curl
again next year.” i

Mr. Knight, on the subject of this disease, in an article
written in 1810, says: “ A few years ago the curl destroyed
many of our best varieties of the potatoe, to the attacks of
which every good variety will probably be subject.

I observed that the leaves of several kinds of potatoes,
which were dry and farinaceous, that I cultivated, produced
curled leaves, while those other kinds, which were soft and
aqueous, were perfectly well formed, whence I was led to
suspect that the disease originated in the preternaturally
inspissated state of the sap in the dry and farinaceous varieties.
I conceived that the sap, if not sufficiently fluid, might stag-
nate in, and close, the fine vessels of the leaf during its
growth and extension, and thus occasion the irregular con-
tractions which constitute this disease; and this conclusion,
which I drew many years ago, is perfectly consistent with the
opinions I have subsequently entertained, respecting the for-
mation of leaves. I therefore suffered a quantity of potatoes,
the produce almost wholly of diseased plants, to remain in
the heap, where they had been preserved during winter, till

Diseases of the Potatoe. 23

each tuber had emitted shoots of three or four inches long.
They were then carefully detached with their fibrous roots,
from the tubers, and were committed to the soil; where
having little to subsist upon except water, I concluded the
cause of the disease, if it were the too great thickness of the
sap, would be effectually removed, and I had the satisfaction
to observe, that not a single-curled leaf was produced ; though
more than nine-tenths of the plants, which the same identical
tubers subsequently produced, were much diseased.

In the spring of 1808, Sir John Sinclair informed me that
a gardener in Scotland, Mr. Crozer, had discovered a method
of preventing the curl, by taking up the tubers before they
are nearly full grown and consequently before they became
farinaceous. Mr. Crozer, therefore, and myself, appear to
have arrived at the same point by very different routes; for
by taking his potatoes, whilst immature, from the parent stem,
he probably retained the sap nearly in the state to which my
mode of culture reduced it. I therefore conclude that the
opinions I first formed, are well founded, and that the disease
may be always removed by the means I employed, and its
return prevented by those adopted by Mr. Crozer.

Another disease affects the seed, and ts called the fadlure,
or taint, which consists of the destruction of their vital pow-
ers. Many conjectures have been hazarded as to the cause
‘of the failure, and most of them have ascribed it to the fer-
mented state of the dung, to the drought of the season, to the
heating of the sets, to the tuber being cut into sets, and other
secondary causes; but all these conjectures leave untouched
the principal consideration in the question, how these cir-
cumstances should induce failure now, and not in by-gone
years. Cut sets have been used for many years without
causing failure. Farm-yard dung in various states of de-
composition, has been used as long for raising potatoes. The
extraordinary drought of 1826 caused no failure, while in
- comparative cool seasons the disease has made great havoc.

24 Diseases of the Potatoe.

Mr. John Shirreff takes a general and philosophical view
of the cause of disease in the potatoe crop, and though, no
doubt, his observations are particularly applicable to the eur,
still they will apply equally well to the taint; for the con-
nection between the two diseases is so intimate, that you have
seen Mr. Dickson’s observation is, that some ‘sets “did not
vegetate at all,” that is, facled, “or produced curled plants.”
Mr. Shirreff adopts the general doctrine broached by Mr.
Knight, “The maximum of the duration of the life of any
individual vegetable or animal,” he says, “is predetermined
by nature, under whatever circumstances the individual may
be placed; the minimum, on the other hand, is determined
by these very circumstances. Admitting, then, that a pota-
toe might reproduce itself from tubers for a great number of
years in the shady woods of Peru, it seems destined to be-
come abortive in the cultivated champaign of Britain, inso-
much that not a single healthy plant of any sort of potatoe
that yields berries, and which was in culture twenty years
ago, can now be produced.” Mr. Shirreff concludes, there-
fore, that the potatoe is to be considered a short-lived plant,
and that though its health and vigor may be prolonged by
rearing it in elevated or in shady situations, or by cropping
the flowers, and thus preventing the plants from exhausting
themselves, the only sure way to obtain vigorous plants, and
to ensure productive crops, is to have frequent recourse to
new varieties from seed. The same view had occurred to Dr.
Hunter, who, in his Georgical essays, has limited the duration
of a variety in a state of perfection to fourteen years.

The fact ascertained by Mr. Knight deserves to be noticed.
That by planting late in the season, an exhausted good
variety, may, in a great measure be restored ; that is, the
tuber resulting from the late planting, when again planted at
the ordinary season, produces the kind in its pristine vigor
and of its former size. It is obvious that all these opinions

Diseases of the Potatoe. 29

refer to the possibility of plants indicating constitutional
weakness, and why may not the potatoe? I have all along
been of the opinion that the failure has arisen from this cause,
nor does it seem to me to be refuted by the fact, that certain
varieties of potatoe have been cultivated for many years in
the same locality without fail; because it is well understood
that every variety of potatoe has not indicated failure, and
one locality may be more favorable to retention of vigor of
constitution than another; at least, we may easily believe:
this. Ihave no doubt in my own mind that were seed pota--
toes securely pitted, until they were about to be planted,—
not over-ripened before they were taken out of the ground,—
the sets cut from the crispest tuber and from the waxy end ;
the dung fermented by a turning of the dung-hill in proper
time ; led out to the field, quickly spread, the sets as quickly
dropped in it, and the drills quickly split, there would be little:
heard of the failure even in the dryest season. I own it is
difficult to prove the existence of constitutional weakness in

any given tuber, as its existence is only implied by the fact
of the failure; but the hypothesis explains many more facts
than any other, than atmospheric influence, for example,.
producing the failure like epidemic diseases in animals, for
such influences existed many years ago, as well as now. The
longer the cultivation of the tuber of the potatoe, which is not
its seed, is persevered in, the more certainly may we expect
to see its constitutional vigor weakeried, in strict analogy to
other plants propagated by similar means; such as the failure

of many varieties of the apple and pear, and of the cider
fruits of the seventeenth century. This very season (1843,)

contradicts the hypothesis of drought and heat as the primary
cause of failure, for it has hitherto (to June) been neither hot
nor dry, while it strikingly exemplifies the theory of consti-
tutional weakness, inasmuch as the fine season of 1842 had .
so much over-ripened the potatoe, — farmers still unaware of

3

26 Diseases of the Potatoe.

the cause of the failure, permitting the potatoes they have
used for seed to become over-ripened,—that the sets this
spring, to repeat again the words of Mr. Dickson, “did not
vegetate at all,” even in the absence of heat and drought, and
in the presence of moist weather. Had the potatoes been a
little less over-ripened in 1842, the sets from them might
have produced only curl this season, though it is not improb-
able that the same degree of over-ripening may cause entire

failure now, that would only have caused curl years ago; and

as over-ripening was excessive last year, owing to the very
fine weather, so the failure is extensive in a corresponding
degree in this, even in circumstances considered by most
people preventive of its recurrence, namely, in cold and moist
weather. And observe the results of both 1842 and 1845 as
confirmatory of the same principle, illustrated by diametrically
opposite circumstances. The wnder-ripened seed of the bad
season of 1841 produced the good crop of potatoes in 1842,
in spite of the great heat and drought existing at the time of
its planting in 1842; while the over-ripened seed of the good
season of 1842 has produced extensive failure, in spite of the
coolness and moisture existing at the time of planting in 1843.
How can heat, drought, or fermenting dung, account for these
things ? :

As fact, may be mentioned the effects of comparatively
dry and moist, soil, on cut sets and whole potatoes, which
were brought to light by an experiment of Mr. Howden, and
which obtained results no one would have anticipated. Says
Mr. Howden:

“On the 28th of June I selected from a stock of potatoes
which had been repeatedly turned and kept for family use,
seventy tubers of the old rough black variety. I divided this
number-into five lots, sizing them so that each lot of fourteen
potatoes weighed exactly four pounds. I made on that day one
lot of fourteen pounds into starch, and obtained nine ounces.

a —

Diseases of the Potatoe. 27

On the same day I put fourteen potatoes whole, and fourteen
cut into fifty-six sets, into a deep box, filled with dry mould.
The remaining fourteen whole and fourteen cut, I put into
another box filled with mozst earth, and which was watered
from time to time. At the end of three weeks, all the plants»
with the exception of five sets, made their appearance. All
this time the dry box had been kept from moisture. On the
21st of July, however, I allowed it to be moistened with
heavy rain, and on the 28th of July, I. took up and extracted
starch from the whole. Before doing so, however, I weighed
the several lots, and what seemed to me curious was, that
each lot of the whole potatoes had gazned eight ounces ; while
each lot of the cut ones had lost six ounces of its weight, and
of their number ten did not vegetate. The sprouts from
the whole potatoes weighed four ounces, and those from
the cut only two ounces. Yet the starch from the twenty-
eight cut potatoes weighed but two ounces, and that from the
twenty-eight whole potatoes nine ounces, being exactly the
produce in starch of half that number, which was made into
starch at the commencement of the experiment.”

Loudon, in his Encyclopedia of Agriculture, says: “The
diseases of the potatoe.are chiefly the scab, the worm, and
the curl. The scab or ulcerated surface of the tubers, has
never been satisfactorily accounted for; some attributing it
to the ammonia of horse dung; others to alkali; and some
to the use of coal ashes. Change of seed and of ground are
the only resources known at present for this malady. The
worm and grub both attack the tuber, and the same preven-
tive is recommended.

The same causes which have been assigned to a total or
partial failure of the potatoe in numberless instances, and to
a most distressing extent in Ireland, have existed since the
cultivation of the potatoe commenced, but without the effects
deplored, which have only prevailed within a very recent

28 Diseases of the Potatoe.

space of time. But from the frequent and searching investi-
gation of the subject by the most competent and practical
men, a preventive against the failure has been ascertained,
namely, the planting of entire tubers. When the cut sets
have failed, the entire tubers have resisted premature decay ;
whether it arises from atmospheric influence or debility of
constitution, or from any of the conjectured causes, the entire
tubers exert their noxious influences, and germinate healthily
and freely. All reports agree on this point; there is no
risk in this case, if the tubers be sound when planted; and
it may be added that in all stages of their growth, the uncut
tubers maintain a decided superiority and yield a correspond-
ing produce.*

In this country, the most prevailing disease that has been
noticed is the rust, which, by some, is regarded as an entirely
new disease, while others speak of it as having prevailed
years ago, As a general rule with us, the potatoes have
been more exempted from disease than any other cultivated
crop, the least liable to injury from insects, and, of conse-
quence the most certain crop which our farmers could culti-
vate. The scab and curl have been the only known diseases
in Europe, and probably not one in a hundred of American
cultivators ever saw an instance of the latter disease.

In 1839, the potatoe in New England found a formidable
enemy in the black rust, which has caused great loss wherever
it has shown itself. It has been most destructive on low
lands, sluggish streams, near ponds, or on low meadows or
plains; the more elevated, airy, and dry situations, have
generally escaped. The following, respecting this new dis-
ease, is from the Farmer’s Monthly Visitor, and I invite
particular attention to this account, and the observations
which follow, as I believe it will be found closely allied to

* Dictionary of the Farm, p. 413.

—— ss

Diseases of the Potatoe. 29

the Potatoe Plague, which will be fully described in Part
II, of this treatise:

“The cause of the rust this season, (1859) we believe to
be the extraordinary humidity, combined with a peculiar
state of the atmosphere, at some period in the high heat of
summer. It was remarked that the rust struck universally
on the 27th of August. Early planted potatoes were not so
much injured by it as the later crop. Last year, it will be
remembered, the severe drought in that part of the country
south of a line drawn east and west, at the distance of fifty
to seventy miles north of Boston, generally lessened the crop
of potatoes, affecting those early and late planted in a similar
manner that the rust has this year injured them. It was too
dry last summer, and the uncommon wetness of the present
“summer has been alike injurious. More than half the days
in June, and two-thirds the days in July, and one third in
August were rainy days. In a season so uncommonly wet
we could not but anticipate quite as much injury to some
crops as we have suffered. The benefits to the grass crop
and small grains, have amply compensated for every thing.”

In 1841, a correspondent of the Maine Farmer wrote as
follows :

“ Almost all persons with whom I have conversed on the
subject ascribe the failure of the potatoe crop to rust; and I
know very well the tops have a rusty appearance, while some
few have mentioned other causes. I have had ample time
and opportunity to examine numerous fields under all the
different circumstances of soil and culture, and time of plant-
ing, which could be found, and the result in my mind was
satisfactory that no single cause assigned could alone pro-
duce it. In one field, planted partly with the pink-eyed
variety, and partly with the long reds, the pink-eyes were so
dead, the tops, on pulling, broke off, without pulling up the
potatoes, and the owner had commenced digging. The long
3%

30 Diseases of the Potatoe

reds growing side by side appeared as fresh and fair as ever,
to a casual inspection. But on closer examination the
leaves at the bottom were dying, and the same process of
decay appeared to have commenced, by which the pink-eyes
died. It is said the sap which forms the potatoe is elaborated
‘in the leaves, and I believe this is not doubted by any physi-
‘ologists; but how can this fact be reconciled with the fact
‘that some varieties are quite as large as usual, and the
assigned cause of rust we have mentioned.

“ From all the observations I could make there seems to
hhave been some general cause operating, from the time of
the blossoming of the earliest variety, and the earliest planted
‘to the latest, by which the formation of the bulbs was restricted
to few in number. This cause, I am constrained to believe,
‘is atmospheric.”

A work has lately been published by Dr. Van Martius, on
‘the epidemic diseases of potatoes. He enumerates all the
‘diseases that have been observed from time to time, and
describes more particularly two forms which did extensive
damage to the potatoe crops of Germany, in 1841. These
he calls, in literal English, stem rot, scab. It is to the first of
these diseases that we wish to call attention, as resembling, in
many of its symptoms, moist gangrene. ‘There is, however,
this difference between that disease, and the one we are
about to mention, that the-former attacked only leaves and
fruits, and was accompanied by the presence of a large quan-
tity of moisture, whilst this attacks the tuber, an underground
stem, and is characterized by a diminution of water in the
tissue of the plant. It is, in fact, a dry gangrene, and Mar-
tius calls it Gangrena tuberum Solant.

When potatoes are attacked with this disease, the first
thing that is observed is, a drying up or shrivelling of the
tuber. The skin loses its ordinary lustre, becomes wrinkled,
and shows at last little irregular spots, of a dark brown color,

Diseases of the Potatoe. 31

which, as the disease progresses, run together into larger
spots. In these places the skin seems thicker, and has the
appearance of having been rubbed against something. Sub-
sequently, the tissue of which the skin is composed becomes
loosened and torn; and by the breaking up of its continuity,
it‘assumes the appearance of the back of an old tree. Some-
times the skin is split up into distinct patches, like scales; at
the commencement of the disease the interior of the tuber
does not suffer; but, at last, a change of color takes-place -in
the tissues under the spots of the skin. Patches of a yellow,
or brown color, are observed, which are at first isolated, but
at last run into one another. These patches are drier than
the surrounding tissue; but up to this period in the appear-
ance of the disease, no changes have taken place that render
the tuber unfit to eat.

As the disease advances, little warts, or excrescences, form
on the skin, which are of a dark color inside; they are at
first small, but keep on extending, and at last run one into»
the other. From the surface of these warts, a fungus, be-
longing to the mould of the potatoe tribe, is observed to pro-
ject.- The potatoe now begins to emit a disagreeable odor,
and its physical character is greatly changed. Its specific
gravity, which, in a state of health, is 1.163, becomes succes-
sively reduced, as the disease proceeds, and at last is about
0.9. If potatoes are planted with this disease, in no case do
they put forth healthy shoots. In the commencing stages,

~the eyes put forth shoots which rise above the ground, but
soon perish. In the latter stages the whole tissue of the
potatoe is involved in disease, and on cutting into it, it pre-
sents a dark colored, disorganized mass, very dry, and not
unlike the appearance of a truffle.

On examining the tissues under a microscope, it will be
found that the cellular tissue of the skin has lost its trans-
parency, and become of a brown color, and that of the in-

32 Diseases of the Potatoe.

terior has lost its brightness as well as its moisture and
whiteness. The starch grains gradually disappear, and cells
filled with air, and a yellow fluid, occupy their place. Many
cells are torn, and the passages are filled with a brown fluid.

Scattered between the cells in all directions will be found
dark colored, opaque grains of various forms and sizes. These
grains do not develope any further, but at last burst, and in
their appearance and history resemble the Protomyces, or
primitive fungus germs of unger. On cutting into the little
knobs, masses of the fibres of a fungus are observed, which at
last make their way to the surface, and there either fructify
or become shrivelled into a whitish layer. Sometimes the
fibres of this fungus, which are very delicate and trans-
parent, are found throughout the whole mass of the diseased
tuber. On examining these fibres, they present two distinct
forms, the one being probably a variety of the other.

T am not aware that this form of disease has prevailed very
extensively in this country. With regard to the cause of the
disease nothing certain is known. In Germany it has oc-
curred in all soils and in all weathers. It has occurred to
almost all sorts of potatoes, and after all modes of planting
and gathering; so that many have been inclined to attribute
it to the influence of contagion; whilst those who are advo-
cates of the doctrine that all diseases arise from the sporules
of fungi, will at once conclude that the influence of the fungus
in this disease ‘is a proof that it originated in their presence.
For the prevention of this rot every precaution should be
taken in planting them to secure their healthful growth. The
conclusions of Von Martius are as follows: The newer the
variety is, the better. The potatoes intended for seed should
be grown separate from the rest. The seed potatoes should
not be kept heaped up in damp cellars, and allowed to shoot
before they are planted, and they should never be cut for
sowing before they are brought into the field.

/

Diseases of the Potatoe. 33

_I conclude this part of my subject, by extracting the fol-
lowing article by Morrill Allen, an intelligent, practical far-
mer, of Massachusetts. The extract properly belongs, per-
haps, to Part II, of this work, but it is also connected with

‘the present chapter. He says: “There have been sufficient

indications of the existence of disease, and advances, to justify
some general attention to the subject, and the employment of
such preventive, or remedial means, as may seem to cultiva-

- tors the most likely to prove efficacious. Until the causes of

the malady shall be more satisfactorily investigated, no rules
ean, with implicit confidence, be given for the treatment.
The farmers must do as physicians are sometimes obliged to
do in cases of undefined bodily disease, — prescribe to the
symptoms. This practice is attended with great uncertainty,
yet the results, of it in experience sometimes prove highly
valuable. The different causes to which the disease in pota-
toes has been ascribed, lead writers to suggest a great variety
of remedies in ‘accordance with their views of the probable
origin. Let farmers select and apply such as their reason
and judgment best approve, and it may be that merely prac-
tical men will, in the course of their experience, clearly
prove what theory has hitherto failed of doing, the moving
cause of the difficulty. If, as supposed by some, it be of
insect origin, then salt and lime would seem proper applica-
tions, and these are also strongly recommended by persons
who think that fungus is the producing cause of the disease.
Those who suppose it arises from atmospheric influence
may properly apply the same means which would be recom-
mended by those who believe it the result of excessive
growth. Preparation of the soil, and a course in the culti-
vation likely to produce an even growth is unquestionably
important in this and other crops. Some persons seem con-
fident that the rot in potatoes results wholly from deteriora-
tion in the seed. If this be true we may not expect to avoid

34 Diseases of the Potatoe.

the evil merely by sending to another place for seed potatoes ;
we should renew them from the balls. This is a process
requiring some patience, but we know of no easier method of
entire renovation. We suppose renewal can be approached
in successive plantings of unmatured potatoes. These have
often been strongly recommended for seed, not only for the
purpose of avoiding disease, but as a means of increasing the
crop. It is manifestly contrary to what we regard as a gen-
eral law in vegetation, that the most perfect seed produces
the healthiest and most fruitful plants. There are, however,
several reasons for believing that the potatoe may be an ex-
ception to the general law. The vegetative principle is not
so concentrated in the potatoe as in most other articles. It
can be produced from the balls, the bulbs, or from sprouts
which have grown in the cellar, or the earth, The vegeta-
tive principle being so widely diffused, it may be reasonable
to suppose, that the perfect ripening of the potatoe to some
extent weakens its power of reproduction, ‘That power after
the complete maturity of the bulbs may be more perfectly
concentrated in the balls. The experiment is easily made,
and it is hoped that many farmers will this year plant pota-
toes for the next year’s seeding as late as the 25th of June,”

CG. A.P IT BR. iV.
Various Uses to which Potatoes are applied.

THE most important application of potatoes is as human
food ; on this it is unnecessary to enlarge.

Einhoff found mealy potatoes to contain twenty-four per
cent. of their weight of nutritive matter, and rye seventy
parts; consequently sixty-four and a half measures of pota-
toes afford the same nourishment as twenty-four measures of
rye. A thousand parts of potatoes yielded to Sir Humphrey
Davy two hundred to three hundred parts of nutritive matter,
of which one hundred and fifty-five to two hundred were
mucilage or starch, fifteen to twenty sugar, and thirty to forty
gluten. Now, supposing an acre of potatoes to weigh nine
tons, and an acre of wheat to weigh one ton, which is about
the usual proportion, then, as one thousand parts of wheat
afford nine hundred and fifty nutritive parts, and one thou-
sand of potatoes say two hundred and thirty, the quantity of
nutritive matter afforded by an acre of wheat and potatoes
will be nearly as nine to four; so that an acre of potatoes
will supply more than double the quantity of human food
afforded by an acre of wheat. The potatoe is, perhaps, the
only root grown, which may be eaten every day in the year
without satiating the palate. They are therefore the only
substitute that can be used for bread, with any degree of suc-
cess. In the answer by Dr. Tissot to M. Linquet, the for-

36. Uses of the Potatoe.

mer objects to the constant use of potatoes for food, not
because they are pernicious to the body, but because they
hurt the faculties of the mind. He owns that those who eat
maize, potatoes, or even millet, may grow tall and acquire a
large size. It does not, however, by any means appear, that
the general use of potatoes has impaired either the health of
body or vigor of mind of its inhabitants.

The manufacture of potatoe flour is carried on, to a consid-

erable extent, in the neighborhood of Paris, and the flour is~

sold at a price considerably higher than that of wheat, for the
use of confectioners, and of bakers who supply the finer kinds
of bread. The potatoes are washed and grated, and the
starch separated from the pulp so attained by filtration; it is
dried on shelves, in a room heated by a flue, and afterwards
broken on a floor, by passing a cast iron roller over it. It is
then passed into a bolting machine and put into sacks for
sale. It is reported by Count de Chatrol, in his statistical
account of Paris, that forty thousand tons of potatoes are an-
nually manufactured into flour within a circle of eight leagues
around the city.

The quantity of farina which potatoes produce varies not
only according to the species, but according to the period
when the extraction takes place. The variations produced
by this last cause are nearly as follows: —

Two hundred and forty pounds of potatoes, produced of
farina, or potatoe flour, in

smevents from 25 to 25 pounds.
Sept., C6 8 1D 5G MBB NE
October, “ 32 “ 40- «
Nov., CC se BB ee AAS Pace
March, 6:6 ):045 "Bg ou
April, 6 RSS ee Bi.
May, “« 98 « 99 “
The extraction of the farina should be discontinued at the

Uses of the Potatoe. 37
period when the potatoes begin to grow, the farina being de-
stroyed by germination. Red potatoes produce a smaller
quantity of farina. Those which are blue on the outside give
little, but it is of good quality ; the white, which is often ting-
ed with red ii the interior, is the least proper for this extrac-
tion. The best of all are those which have a yellow tint, as
the farina is of very good quality and abundant.

The meal of potatoes may be preserved for years,. closely
packed in barrels, or unground in the form of slices, these
slices having been previously dried by steam. Some German
philosophers have proposed to freeze the potatoes, by which the
feculent matter is separated from the starch, and the latter
being then dried and compressed, may be preserved for any
length of time, or exported with safety any distance.

The manufacture of tapioca from potatoes is thus given in the
Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. The potatoes selected are
thoroughly washed, afterwards they are grated in a machine
constructed for the purpose. The parts thus reduced or grat-
ed fall into a vessel placed underneath. From this. vessel
they are removed, and strained into a tub. On the juice
being well expressed for the first time, the fibrous matter is
set apart, and cold clean water is thrown over them. The
fibres are again put through the same strainer, till the whole
of the substance is collected, when they are finally cast aside.
On this being done, the contents of the tub, now in a state of
mucilage or starch, are allowed to settle. A reasonable in-
terval being suffered to elapse, the old water is poured gently
off, and fresh water supplied. After this process of washing
the bleached matter is passed through a smaller strainer.

The offals are separated; the starch now becomes much
whiter; but still fresh water is abundantly dashed over it.
When by frequent ablution the surface of this mass is ren-
dered quite smooth and clear, it is filtrated a third and last
time.

4

38 Uses of the Potatoe.

The strainer now used is of very fine texture, so that no
improper or accidental admixture may interfere. As soon as
the starch thus purified, has firmly subsided, it is spread on a
board, and exposed to the open air. The damp speedily
evaporates, on which it is, as a security for cleanliness, put
through a sieve.

A large circular pan is now procured, and set upon the fire.
The farina is gradually put into the -pan, till what is conceiv-
ed to be sufficient for one cooking has been ‘supplied. As
the natural tendency of the farina, in a warm state, is to ad-
here to the pan, great care is requisite in constantly turning
and stirring it. This is effectually done with a broad flat
piece of wood, having a long handle to prevent inconvenience
from the heat. A temperature of one hundred and fifty de-
grees, Fahrenheit, suits best for perfecting the tapioca, When
the farina becomes quite hard, dry and gritty, it is then ready,
and may be taken off the fire-— Quarterly Journal of Agri-
culture, Vol. IL, p. 68.

Potash may be extracted from potatoe leaves and stalks,
by the following process: — Cut off the stalks when the
flowers begin to fall, as that is the period of their greatest
vigor; leave them on the ground eight or ten days to dry;
cart them to a hole dug in the earth, about five feet square by
two feet deep, and then burn them, keeping the ashes red-hot
as long as possible. Afterwards take out the ashes, pour
boiling water on them, and then evaporate the water. ‘There
remains, after the evaporation, a dry saline reddish substance,
known in commerce under the name of salin; the more the
ashes are boiled, the greyer and more valuable the salin be-
comes. The salin must be calcined in a very hot oven, until
the whole mass presents a uniform reddish brown. In cool-
ing it remains dry, and in fragments bluish within, and white
on the surface, in which state it takes the name of potash. —
Smith's Mechanic, Vol. IL, p. 381.

EE

Uses of the Potatoe. 89

Among extraordinary applications of the potatoe, may. be
mentioned cleaning woollens, and making wine and ardent
spirits.

Cleaning Woollens.— The refuse of the potatoes used in
making starch, when taken from the sieve, possesses the prop-
erty of cleansing woollen cloths, without injuring their color;
and the water decanted from the starch powder is excellent
for cleansing silks, without the slightest injury to the color.

Wine and ardent spirits of a good quality are made from
potatoes. Under the influence of certain chemical agents,
which it is not my province here to speak of particularly,
starch is converted, into sugar, and this sugar, by fermenta-
tion, yields spirits, On the European continent potatoe
spirit is almost universally used; and in flavor it so resem-
bles brandy that it is well known that a large quantity of the
French brandy brought into London, is potatoe spirit from
Hamburg, colored with burned sugar.

On converting potatoes into flour, Mr. Abiel Abbott, of
Sidney, Me., thus writes to the Kennebec Journal : —

“ After much study and many experiments, I have made a
discovery which I think will, with that encouragement it
merits, be of great importance to the people of this state and
all others similarly situated.

“Tn 1852 I was strongly impressed that flour might be ob-
tained from the potatoe; accordingly I ventured an experi-
ment, the result of which was, eight pounds of flour from the
bushel. I then suspended my experiments until the winter
of 1844, when I resumed them, and found the result to be the
same as 1852, that is, eight pounds of fine flour from the
bushel. Owing to a deficiency of gluten good bread cannot
be made from it alone, but when mixed with equal parts of
wheaten flour, the bread made from it is much better than
that which is made from all wheaten flour, — that is, in the
estimation of those who have eaten the bread.

40 Uses of the Potatoe.

“Two hundred bushels of potatoes to the acre, is called by
the farmers an average crop in Maine, yielding, according to
the foregoing experiments, about eight barrels of flour to the
‘acte.

The following article, extracted from the last number of the
Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, will be found in-
teresting in this connection : —

“In Germany, a method has lately been introduced, of
making flour from potatoes, which has not, I believe, been
tried in this country, but which is recommended as giving
a better, a more palatable, and a more abundant article of
nourishment than the common process of preparing potatoe
starch. This method consists in washing the potatoes, cut-
ting them into slices, as we do turnips, steeping these slices
for twenty-four hours in water containing one per cent. of
sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol) drawing off the acid water,
washing them several times with pure water, drying them in
a stove, and then grinding them in a common corn-mill. The
flour thus obtained is pure white, and the refuse siftings or
bran, seldom exceed five per cent. of the weight of the dried
potatoes. The sulphuric acid in this process extracts the
coloring matter of the potatoe, with certain other substances
which would give the flour an unpleasant taste. This flour
will not make good bread if used alone. It requires to be
mixed with from one-half to one-third of wheaten flour.”

But the following is the most interesting piece of informa-
tion that we have met with on this subject. It refers to the
most economical method of using the potatoe crop as food for
cattle : — ) 3

“ As I have said so much on the subject of potatoes, I may
as well describe to you a method which has lately been re-
commended in Denmark and Norway, for making the potatoe
more available and more profitable in feeding cattle than it
has ever hitherto been. You are probably aware that potatoe

Uses of the Potatoe. 41
starch can be readily converted into grape sugar, and that
the syrup obtained from it is largely employed for the manu-
facture of brandy in the north of Europe, and even of the
best brandy which comes from France. In the more north-
ern of the French wine-growing provinces it is also mixed
with the less sweet varieties of grape juice, so as to give an
additional strength and richness to the wine. One of the
methods by which the potatoe starch is converted into grape
sugar, is to mix it with one tenth of its weight of ground malt
diffused in water, and to keep the mixture for some hours at
a moderate temperature. The starch dissolves, and the liquid
becomes sweet from its conversion into grape sugar. This
is the method which M. Béggild, of Copenhagen, proposes
to apply to the whole potatoe,’ in order to bring it into
a soluble state, to make it more easy of digestion, and thus to
increase its feeding properties. He washes his potatoes well,
steams them thoroughly, and then, without allowing them to
cool, he cuts them in a cylinder furnished internally with
revolving knives, or crushes them in a mill; and mixes them
with a small quantity of water and three pounds of ground
malt to every one hundred pounds of the raw potatoes. This
mixture is kept in motion, and at a temperature of one hun-
dred and forty degrees to one hundred and eighty degrees
Fahrenheit, for from one to five hours, when the thick gruel
has acquired a sweet taste and is ready for use. Given in
this state, the results of experimental trials are said to be —

“1. That it is a richer and better food for milk cows than
twice the quantity of potatoes in a raw state.

“2. That it is excellent for fattening cattle and sheep, and
for winter food: that it goes much farther than potatoes when
merely steamed; and that it may be economically mixed up
with chopped hay and straw.

“T have before me a pamphlet, published at Christiania, by
the Royal Society for Promoting the Improvement of Nor-

4%

42 _ Uses of the Potatoe.

way, in which this method is strongly recommended; also a
letter from Copenhagen, dated 29th April, 1845, in which

my correspondent writes as follows :—‘This invention has .

been more and more appreciated and applied in my native
country (Norway) and in Denmark, and the great advanta-
ges with which stall-feeding may be introduced, at considera-
bly less expense than formerly, render it suited to general
promulgation.’ —‘The method has more and more gained
adherents, and further comparative experiments, made by
scientific and experienced persons, have proved its superiority.
Thus one of these experiments establishes that an increase of
one and a half pounds of flesh is obtained from twenty-five
pounds of potatoes—that the feeding of horses with this
mash is found to be applicable and cheap, and they all con-
firm that potatoes used in this manner as food amply afford
double the nutritive powers compared with the food formerly
used.’ I cannot here state my reasons for believing that
there is really something worthy of attention in the alleged
superior feeding qualities of the potatoe given in this state ;
but I can strongly recommend you to make experiments upon
this subject. Ifthe potatoe can in this way be converted into
a larger quantity of beef, mutton, or pork, than hitherto, an-
other outlet will be provided for the potatoe crop, which may,

perhaps, prove more profitable even than the manufacture of
it into flour.”

ae

PA BR Few LS.

THE POTATOE PLAGUE.
Preliminary Remarks.

In the preceding pages I have collected important informa-
tion on the history, cultivation, diseases and uses of the pota-
toe. I commend that part of the book to the candid attention
of the farming community, as it contains much that is new.
The views of M. Thaer, especially, now for the first time
republished to American readers, will claim their attention as
being the mature experience of a distinguished cultivator,
after years of observation into the nature of the tuber and
the best modes of managing it.

I now approach the great subject of this treatise with un-
feigned diffidence. I would, in the outset, deprecate criticism,
by the confession, that the material portions of information
contained in these pages are not from my own knowledge, or
the result of my individual experience. The work is com-
posed of better materials than any one farmer or scientific
cultivator could possibly furnish, were he even the most pro-
found and practical in the land. It is a condensation of the
opinions of farmers and scientific men from every part of this
country and Europe, respecting every variety of the potatoe,

44 The Potatoe Plague.

grown under every variety of treatment, soil, and tempera-
ture, and under every possible change or variation that can
‘be supposed with reference to it. E

It is almost impossible to over-rate the importance of an
inquiry like the one we are about tomake. Its influence upon
the prosperity and wealth of nations may be gathered from
the fact that the potatoe crop of the United States alone is
estimated at ninety-nine millions nine hundred and forty-three
thousand bushels annually, and in New England it is thus
stated by Mr. Ellsworth, in his report to Congress, in Janua-
ry, 1845. \

Maine, - - - - 12,304,000 bushels.
New Hampshire, - - 4,643,000 <«
Massachusetts, - - 4,050,000 «
Rhode Island, - - - 812,000 «
Connecticut, - - - 2,117,000 ~*«
Vermont, - - - - 6,158,000 “

50,084,000
Thus it will be seen, that the crop in New England, at a
low estimation, is worth ten millions dollars annually, and the
ROT threatens, if not the total desertion of this large: source
of productive wealth, at least a very great diminution of the
profits of the farmer, and a decrease much to be dreaded in
the supplies of the most healthful, as it is the most universal,
article of food for human consumption. f
It was hoped in 1844, that the disease had reached its cul-
minating point, and that the year 1845 would witness a great
falling off in its destroying effects, and that, like the Asiatic
Cholera, and other similar diseases affecting the human con-
stitution, it would disappear and be heard of no more.
This very desirable consummation, however, was not
realized. The rot has prevailed more extensively this year
than ever before, and not only throughout the wide extent of

The Potatoe Plague. 45

our own country are the complaints of entire failure or partial
destruction heard, but the voice of lamentation and the fear
of famine come to us with a foreboding moan from the British
isles, and some of the countries of continental Europe. ‘The
rot this year has been universal in its effects, and the exi-
gency has called forth particular and anxious inquiries into
the nature of the disease, accounts of which, and the re-
sults arrived at, are subjoined.

It would, perhaps, be difficult to name a subject on which
more has been written, or which has engaged the attention of
more able men than the prevalent potatoe blight, rot, or by
whatever name it may be called. The plague and the yellow
fever have not been more anxiously discussed; nor_ can it be
denied that the subject is of almost equal importance. A
calamity that involves the destruction of a great portion of
the food and labor of the civilized world, and reduces millions
of fellow-creatures to literal starvation, cannot be too dili-
gently studied ; if, happily, thereby, the evil may be averted,
checked, or in any considerable degree lessened. It is esti-
mated by those more competent to form an estimate than I
ean pretend to be, that-three fourths, at least, of the potatoe
crop of all Ireland will have been lost the present season.
Supposing that the potatoe is the principal food of only four
of the millions of that wretched country, what an amount of
human suffering does the prospect present.

I find, by a careful comparison of much that has been writ-
ten on this interesting topic, that most of those who have
made it a subject of inquiry, have fallen into the common
error of generalizing too much, of deducing the rule from the
particular instance, instead of tracing wherein the instance
has coincided with, or deviated from, the rule. Now, there
are countless varieties of the potatoe, and to suppose that the
treatment which has succeeded with one, or two, or a dozen
of these, is the one only means to be used with regard to the

46 The Potatoe Plague.

whole family, however plausible or natural such deduction
may be, is certainly not the way in which scientific knowledge
has been’ brought to its present degree of perfection. Be-
cause a certain mode of treatment has proved. beneficial to a
lymphatic inhabitant of the arctic circle, in a particular dis-
ease, does it follow that the same mode would produce the
same result on a sanguine or bilious temperament between the
tropics? Does it follow that the same laws and government
to which New England quietly submits would be fitting for
the island of Hayti, or one of the pseudo South American
Republics? Yet this is the process of reasoning and induc-
tion that has been applied almost universally to the culture of
the potatoe.

One writer has tried one or two varieties of the root in
certain soils and situations; he has applied certain manures
and a particular treatment of his own, and he therefore
argues that what has succeeded or failed with his variety will
be equally successful or otherwise, with the whole potatoe
family. This is, to the multitude, very plausible and com-
fortable doctrine; they adopt it, and suffer, because they
have not discovered that the. coat that fits a tall, thin man,
will not fit a short, thick one, of equal weight.

We sometimes find, in investigating the reports of scientific
men, that the same variety, planted and dug at the same
season, from the same soil, and haying received the same
treatment, in short, as far as human sagacity can discern,
having had precisely the same advantages and disadvantages,
has shown very different results. In one field, the crop is
healthy and abundant ; in another, it is scant, defective and

diseased. ‘The reader will find many instances of this kind .

by referring to the report of the Commissioner of Patents to
the twenty-eighth Congress. What, then, is the inference?
Clearly that the disease is owing to some cause independent
of culture, or soil, or weather, or atmospheric influence ; that,

The Potatoe Plague. 47

I think, must be plain to every capacity. Neither is the det-
riment likely to have arisen from the presence of fungi, infu-
sorii, or insects, where nothing of the kind has been discover-
ed by the most vigilant observation. Indeed, it seems to me
a death blow to either of these theories, that, in very many
instances, the disease has broken out after the roots were
dug, apparently in a sound and healthy condition, as well as
the stalks. One cause remains; an obvious, if not the only
one—the difference in the quality of the seed planted, of
which I shall have more to say in another place.

It appears to me that there are many causes to which the
failure of the potatoe crop the world over, may be attributed,
without supposing any specific disease, epidemic, or malig-
nant influence whatever. The blight assumes different ap-
pearances in different climates and regions. In some parts
of Germany, the diseased potatoe becomes hard, like a stone,
so that it requires considerable force to break it with a ham-
mer; in other parts it has been observed to turn fibrous and
woody, or withered, or watery, or to turn into liquid putre-
faction. Can it be that all these appearances are but differ-
ent forms of one and the same disease ?

Every one who knows what a potatoe is, knows that all
kinds of potatoes do not bear the action of boiling water alike.
One kind comes from the kettle watery or waxy, another
mealy ; one requires twice as much time in cooking as anoth-
er. Those who eat know not the cause; but they know that
it isso. They are satisfied to say that it is a good or a bad
“potatoe, and to eat or fling it away; and they often come as
nigh the fact without investigation as they could have done
with it. The truth is, that it is not owing to culture, soil, or
disease, that the fruit so turns out; it is the nature of one
variety of potatoe to be watery, and another to be mealy ;
and we could not make it otherwise were we to study a thou-
sand years.

48 The Potatoe Plague.

I have said that many theories have been broached: in
regard to the supposed potatoe epidemic. Most of them are
entitled to respect, as the results of the laborious investiga-
tions of ingenious, learned, or practical men; and I shall
therefore briefly notice a few of them, with such comments
as they appear to me to require.

The first of these theories attributes the rot to too early or
too late planting and digging. There is no doubt, in my
mind, that either of these causes will injuriously affect a crop ;
the failure on a field, or a farm, may justly be referred to
either or both of them. It needs no ghost to tell me that
green fruit is unwholesome, or that, if allowed to hang too
long on the tree, it will rot; but these causes are altogether
insufficient to account for a decay extending over all christen-
dom, of many years duration, and of continually increasing
progress. It cannot be that all, or even a great portion of
those interested in the cultivation of the potatoe throughout
the world, plant too late or too early, or fail to gather and
store the harvest in its season. This theory will do, there-
fore, for a district, but not for the whole temperate zone.

The same reasoning will hold good of the effects of soils,
manures, and seasons. These have their influences; they
are partial and local; but any- considerable and general fail-
ure may be prevented by care. It is hardly credible that
they, or any of them, should, for a long series of years, exert
the same baleful influence, every where. Besides, if this
were the case, would this influence be confined to the potatoe
alone, of all the vegetable kingdom? Do we hear of any:
epidemic or general disease of any other vegetable? We do,
indeed, hear, now and then, of a failure of the beet crop, or
the crop of apples, here and there; but the next year makes _
all right again, and if fruit fails in New England, we get it
from New York and Jersey. The world is not an Egypt,

The Potatoe Plague. 49

where the entire vegetation may be destroyed by too wet or
too dry a season. ;

These attempts to trace a general effect to partial causes
appear to me very like the deductions drawn from the pre-
tended rules of phrenology. I examine astranger’s head, and
find the bump of destructiveness, for example, fearfully prom-
inent. I therefore pronounce him a dangerous person; buty.
on inquiry, I learn that he is a man of remarkably benign
and quiet temperament. “That.” says the phrenological the-.
orist, “is because his organs of benevolence and reverence
are equally developed, and neutralize his destructiveness.”
What practical use can be cut out of a science that defines no
limits or proportions ?

In like manner, “one intelligent farmer (we quote from.
the report above mentioned,) on his own farm, where the soil
was porous, lost none of a crop yielding two thousand bushels ;
while of a field he purchased on a neighboring farm, where
the soil was clayey, and retained much water, he lost the
greater part of the crop.” Hence he argues that the soil and
season together caused the injury, and so, undoubtedly they:
did ; but, supposing there had been a drouth, the seed plant-
ed in clay must have fared best. No general rule can be
deduced from any such success or failure. From this and the
concurrences of many other like instances, however, I draw
the inference that a light soil is more congenial to the potatoe
family, generally, than a heavy one.

Another.set of theorists attribute the potatoe disease to
flies, or other insects. These, however, as far as satisfacto-
rily observed, appear to be tio other than have been always
found upon the potatoe, without producing any injurious
effects. They are the common aphis or vegetable louse, and
flies which confine their ravages to the leaves. It might be
argued in favor, or rather in disfavor of these parasites, that,
by injuring the leaves, they deprive the tuber of its proper

5

50 The Potatoe Plague.

nourishment; but this will not at all account for the decay of
roots dug in an apparently healthy state, after being stored.
Again, we have a goodly array of proofs that insects of dif-
ferent kinds are found in the diseased potatoe, both in the
tops and the tubers; but it is by no means sure that they are
the cause of the disease; on the contrary it seems highly
probable that they are generated by it. This theory has,
comparatively, few supporters, and does not seem to be con-
sidered entitled to much consideration by the learned in such
matters.

A third theory, of which Doctor Hitchcock, of Amherst, is
the most prominent supporter, attributes the universal sick-
ness of the potatoe to “atmospheric agency, too subtle for the
cognizance of our senses, like those which bring such epi-
demics as the influenza and the cholera over particular dis-
tricts or continents? Modern science,” he adds, “ has shown
us that many of the most powerful agencies of nature are
concealed from common and even acute observation. May
there not be others, yet undiscovered, which deeply affect the
delicate machinery of organic life?”

Aye, truly may there; and there may be a sixth sense,
and a measure to infinity, and a limit to time and eternity.
It is much easier to ask than to answer questions, and, when
they relate to things confessedly beyond or above human
intelligence, it is hardly worth while to ask them. There
may, nay, there must be a cause for the yellow fever, and the
cholera, and the potatoe plague; but if it is not within the
capacity of the senses, it is hardly worth while to grope for
it. Ido not mean to undervalte inquiry, of any kind; but
it seems to me that it is time enough to seek the transcenden-
tal causes of an effect, when the visible, tangible, and palpable
ones have been thoroughly examined. It is not proved, —
there is no evidence beyond conjecture, that yellow fever or
cholera is dependent or consequent on atmospheric agency ;

——— |

The Potatoe Plague. dl
neither do I see any reason even to guess such a cause of the
potatoe plague.

A great number of experimentalists contend that the potar
toe rot is attributable to the fermentation of animal manure,
and it strikes me, forcibly, that the rapid, malignant rot of a
great proportion of the lost crops, may justly be attributed
to this cause. More instances where the result of this mode
of treatment has proved fatal to the plant are adduced than
of any other. I cannot altogether withhold credence from
such a mass of concurrent testimony. Wherever potatoes
have been manured with animal matter, and especially barn-
yard manure, in the hill, and when they have been planted
before such compost has been allowed to disintegrate and as-
similate with the soil, the rot seems to have been the inyaria-
ble consequence. On the other hand, it appears that the
disease seldom appears on virgin soil, or newly broken sward
land. I the more incline to the belief that this theory is more
extensively corroborated in practice than any of those I have
thus far noticed, from the fact that, of the potatoes treated
with animal manure, those which lie nigh the outside of the
hill are found best and soundest, while those in the centre,
among the manure, are most specked and rotten.

It is not conclusive, however, that the disease can be stop-
ped by planting on new or sward land, inasmuch as potatoes
dug from such land sound, have often been found to rot after
storing, so as to have been entirely lost before spring. Neith-
er does this solution of the mystery suffice, even partially, to
account for the extent of the injury in other countries; for
we do not know how potatoes are manured there, or whether
they are manured at all. All that can be predicated on the
evidence before us is, that manuring with new animal matter
is calculated to cause loss and injury.

There is yet another theory that I feel bound to notice in
this connection, inasmuch as it is advanced by a very intelli-
gent gentleman, (Mr. Teschemacher, of Boston,) as the result

52 The Potatoe Plague.

of a series of scientific experiments made by him. He has
detected in the potatoe the growth of a fungus analogous te
the mushroom family. It is usually seen as a green mould,
and is often found in the cores of apples and the interior of
nutshells. The seeds are invisible to the naked eye, easily
carried about by the wind, and penetrate wherever the air
ean enter. Their extensive dissemination is, therefore, easy.
When they fatl on the potatoe, in circumstances favorable to
germination, the blight, or decay, is the consequence. The
dry rot in timber proceeds from an analogous cause.

Though maintained by several learned men, I do not deem
this theory a very probable one. It is rather difficult to con-
ceive a fungus alighting on the tops of a plant and thence
growing its subterranean way downward to the tuber; and,
when arrived there, if it ever does so arrive, there is no con-
clusive testimony that it produces decay. That a parasite
vegetable can live and propagate itself in the capillary ves-
sels of another vegetable, is a supposition extraordinary, to
say the least ; and, if it descend the outside of the stalk to the
tuber, how does it penetrate the skin and first appear, where
one would naturally least expect to find it, in the heart of the
potatoe? This theory has, at least, the merit of novelty, to
recommend it; but I cannot concede it my belief without fur-
ther evidence. It appears to me much more likely that the
potatoe fungus, like the supposititious potatoe fly, is an acces-
sary after the fact; a consequence, and not a cause of the
disease.

There are other some, who ascribe the potatoe plague to
the occurrence of a honey dew, a thing which, it appears,
was known to the ancients; but is certainly so little known to
the moderns that I am sure they will not take it as an affront
that I tell them what it is.

Early in the mornings of May or June, after a long
drought, in Carolina, and after a succession of warm days and
cool nights, there is found on the leaves of plants a fluid like

The Potatoe Plague. 53

diluted honey, transparent, and tasting like the syrup of re-
fined sugar. It thickens as the sun rises, and ceases to be
fluid by ten or eleven o’clock.

I leave it to the reader’s ingenuity to discover how the
honey dew of Carolina can afilict the poor potatoes of Yan-
keedom, where it has not been seen for a hundred years, if
ever, and how a disease that originated thirty years ago, in
Kurope, certainly, and probably in Ireland, should at last
have found its primal cause among the alligators of North
America. This theory seems to me too absurd to demand
serious refutation.

Having now stated what I believe but partially and what I
do not believe at all, the reader is, perhaps, desirous to know
what I do believe. I say, I have no theory but nature’s, but
that which is consistent with experience and common sense,
but that will account for the potatoe plague, in all its phases,
whenever and wherever it may appear; and which, while it
detects the cause of the disease, also prescribes the remedy.

But, firstly,

There are some things certain, for which I ask no man to
take my word, and which it may be of advantage to all to
learn, viz: — '

1. The disease is not confined to any particular kind of
soil or to any locality. Some assert that it pertains exclu-
sively to dry soil; others as stoutly maintain that it belongs
only to wet.

2. It does not exclusively affect any particular kind or
kinds of potatoes. :

3. The affected potatoes, like other diseased vegetables,
are unwholesome, if not poisonous.

4. Decomposition proceeds more rapidly among the infect-
ed potatoes, when placed in a heap; whence I do not infer,
as many others do, that it is best to defer digging till late in
the Fall.

5*

54 The Potatoe Plague.

It is an undenied, uncontroverted, uncontrovertible and
“undeniable fact that, in both the animal and vegetable king-
‘doms, between which there is a close analogy, every stock
‘propagated for a Iong course of years within itself, exhausts
fits vital energies and deteriorates. This has been known to
‘all nations, in all ages; this is the reason of the wise prohi-
‘bition of the intermarriages between near relatives; this is
‘the cause of the deterioration of most of the reigning families
in Europe; and hence it is that there are no more heroes
among the Bourbons, or wise men among the Guelphs. The
intermarrying cretins and cagots have transmitted their taint-
ed blood to a race of dwarfs and idiots, and — but why need
‘I multiply instances? —every practical farmer and sports-
man knows the inevitable consequence of “breeding in and
in,” and breeding from defective specimens. And this dete-
rioration is as true and certain in the vegetable kingdom.
“The scrub oaks, and dry, short grass of the western prairies
attest it. That the potatoe is not exempt from this inherent
tendency to deterioration, I shall cite two, among a thousand
evidences.

For thirty years, or more, this disease has been making
slow and insidious progress in Europe; but it is not until
quite lately that it has excited any alarm on this continent.
What does this show, if not, that the old stocks of Europe,
having had time to exhaust their vital energies, have at last
fallen into inevitable decay, which is but beginning among
‘the younger stocks of America? The once famous apple
potatoe of Ireland, for a long series of years the pride and
boast of the island, at last showed such signs of decay that the
cultivation of it was entirely abandoned. This happened
some years ago, and the rest of the Irish stocks appear to be
now further advanced in the same Broeress, |

In another famous potatoe growing country, Nova Scotia,

the progress of the diseasé, and its arrest, speak volpmes in

The Potatoe Plague. 55

proof of the truth of this theory. For many years it pervad-
ed particular farms, sometimes appearing in tle stalk, long
before the potatoe had arrived at maturity ; sometimes after
it was harvested and put into the cellar. and what shows con-
clusively that this was caused by reproducing from the same,
and from defective seed, is, that after ineffectually trying
many other remedies, the suffering farmers hit upon the true
one. They planted the balls, and thus procured new seed,
which, in two or three years, came to full size and maturity,
and were proof to the prevailing disease.

A writer who appears to understand this subject, (the edi-
tor of the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser,) says, “The latter
opinion in Scotland, Germany, Sweden and Russia, is, that,
by long propagation, without recurring to the natural seed of
the plant, it has lost a portion of its vital power, and hence is
extremely prone to blight, to rust and to rot.”

Now, though there are several varieties, and good ones,
which produce no balls or blossoms, it is not thence positively
to be inferred that they have lost none of- their vital power.
The old age of a stock comes on gradually, and these, it is
probable, though they have not reached the stage of visible
decay, are not far from it. Neither does the fact that some
new varieties have suffered more than some old ones, militate
very strongly against my position, unless it can be proved that
the said new varieties, were not only from seed of a new
stock, but seed of a healthy and perfect quality. It does ap-
pear that entirely new varieties, and seed obtained from new
countries have, on the whole, suffered much less than old
ones.

It is self-evident that, as sickly and weakly parents are
seldom blessed with strong and healthy offspring, so neither
will imperfect seed produce perfect, thriving plants. I there-
fore recommend, where seed is suspected, to come to the
root of the evil, as did the agriculturists of Ireland, in the

56 The Potatoe Plague.

matter of the apple potatoe, and as the Nova Scotians do;
by rejecting it altogether. The potatoes planted should be of
good size, and not cut into small pieces. You may as well
expect a vigorous blade of corn from a diminutive, shrivelled
grain, as a strong plant froma small potatoe. There never
was a more fatal error than the common one that “ any pota
toes are good enough for planting.”

It is confidently asserted by many writers, and I believe it
to be true from by own experience and observation, that the
weakness of the seed is usually caused by over-ripeness; that
is, by coming to full maturity before being taken from the
ground. The best potatoe growers dig their seed potatoes
before they have quite completed their growth. They are
full of sap, and remain so. From the fact that they are too
waxy for the table, they are the fitter for seed. Seed pota-
toes should not be of a mealy quality, nor should they be
stored so that they will heat, or be kept out of the ground
long after they are cut for planting. :

It does not follow that all potatoes of what are called new
‘ varieties are necessarily equally new. Some of them may
have gone through more generations than others. I have
been forcibly struck with the truth, as it seems to me, that
most varieties now in vogue are actually dying slowly of old
age, the principles of decay being more or less quickened by
unfavorable seasons or unskillful management. ‘The chenan-
go, for example, has been among the longest cultivated by
farmers, and has been, perhaps, the most affected by disease.
English whites and reds have not suffered so much, being
of a hardier constitution ; but they, too, have, for years, been
showing symptoms of decay. Perhaps the wisest course ,
universally, would be to obtain new varieties from the seed,
or to resort to the wild South American original.

CHAPTER f.

Some Account of the Appearance of the Disease in Different
parts of the World, and the Means taken to arrest tts
Progress.

Tue British Government have issued a commission to
proceed to Ireland, for the purpose of examining into the
eauses of the disease. The commission consists of Profes-
sors Kane, Lindley and Playfair. Their first report, directed
merely towards improper methods of storing the crop, has
been published by the Irish government, and distributed by
‘means of the constabulary, through the whole country.

In Ireland the official inquiry is essentially aided by the
important evidence collected by various diligent inquirers,
especially by the Royal Irish Agricultural Improvement
Society, a most zealous and useful association, and the officers
of the Royal Dublin Society. In England the Rev. M. J.
Berkeley and Mr. Edward, Jolley, are occupied with a mi-
nute investigation of the subject for the Horticultural Society,
in the mycological and chemical points of view ; and in Scot-
land the Agricultural Chemistry Association have put forth
a circular inviting the public to subscribe five hundred pounds
for the expense of an entomologico, botanicc, chemico prac-
tical examination of the matter.

The following is the report above alluded to:

58 The Potatoe Plague.

Board Room, Royal Dublin Society,
24th October, 1845.

My Lorp,— We, the undersigned Commissioners, ap-
pointed by Her Majesty’s Government to report to your
Excellency on the state of disease in the potatoe crop, and on
the means of its prevention, have the honor to inform your
Excellency that we are pursuing our inquiries with unremit-
ting attention.

We are fully sensible of the important and difficult nature
of the inquiry, and therefore are unwilling to offer, at the
present moment, any final recommendations, as we are still
receiving evidence, and awaiting the results of various ex-
periments now in progress. But at the same time we ought
to state to your Excellency that we have reason to hope that
the progress of the disease may be retarded by the applica-
tion of simple means, which we trust may appear worthy
of adoption, until we are enabled to offer further recom-
mendations.

In the present communication we avoid entering into any
account of the origin or nature of the disease; but we would
particularly direct attention to the ascertained facts, that
moisture hastens its progress, and that it is capable of being
communicated to healthy potatoes when they are in contact
with such as are already tainted. A knowledge of these
facts, determined, as they have been, by experiment, and
agreeing with the scientific information obtained as to the
causes and nature of the disease, lead us to propose the adop-
tion of the following plan for diminishing the evils arising
from the destructive malady :

In the event of a continuance of dry weather, and in soils
tolerably dry, we recommend that the potatoes should be al-
lowed, for the present, to remain in the land; but if wet
weather intervene, or if the soil be naturally wet, we consider
that they should be removed from the ground without delay.

OO

The Potatoe Plague. 59
” ‘When the potatoes are dug out of the ground, we are de-
cidedly of opinion that they should not be pitted in the usual
way, as the circumstances under which potatoes are placed in
ordinary pits are precisely those which tend to hasten their
decay.

We recommend that potatoes when dug should be spread
over the field, and not collected into heaps, and if the weather
continue dry and free from frost that they should be allowed
to lie upon the field for a period of time not exceeding three
days.

The potatoes, after being thus dried and improved in their
power of resisting disease by the means proposed, should
then be sorted, by carefully separating those which show any
tendency to decay. Those potatoes which appear to be
sound should then be placed about two inches apart in a
layer, and over each layer of potatoes should be placed a
layer of turf ashes, or dry turf mould, or dry sand, or burned
clay, to the depth of a few inches. Thus will be formed a
bed of potatoes, each potatoe being completely separated from
the other by a dry absorptive material; upon this bed,
another layer of potatoes should be spread in like manner,
and be also covered with the dry materials employed; as
many as four layers may thus be placed one above the other,
and when the heap is completed, it should be covered with
dry clay, straw, heath, or any other material adapted to
protect it from rain. ’

In the event of the weather becoming wet these recom-
mendations are not applicable. In that case we would advise
that the potatoes be packed in small heaps, with either straw or
heath interposed, and well covered ; in such a situation they
would become as well dried as seems practicable under the
cireumstanees. Where outbuildings exist, it would be ad-
visable that this mode of temporary packing should be carried
on in those places. If there be no outhouses the heaps may

60 The Potatoe Plague.

be left in the open field. We, however, particularly recom-
mend that potatoes should not be removed into inhabited
rooms.

With regard to the treatment of potatoes already attacked
with the disease, we have to state that in this early stage of
our investigation we do not fvel justified in proposing to your
Excellency any mode of positive treatment, — this subject we
reserve for a future report; but we may remark that expo-
sure to light and dryness, in all cases, retards the progress of
alterations, such as the disease in question, and we therefore
suggest that all such potatoes should; as far as possible, be so
treated.

We do not mean to represent that these recommendations,
if carried into effect, will prevent the occurrence of disease in
potatoes, but we feel assured that the decay will extend less
rapidly and less extensively under these circumstances than
if the potatoes, when taken from the ground, be at once pitted
in the usual manner. Neither do we offer these suggestions,
to your Excellency as a final means of securing the crop, but
merely as a method of retarding the progress of an enemy
whose history and habits are yet but imperfectly known,
whilst we endeavor to ascertain the means of more com-
pletely counteracting its injurious effects, if any such ean
be discovered.

All which we submit to your Excellency’s consideration, —
and remain your Excellency’s obedient and faithful servants,

Rogvert Kane,
Joun LInpDiey,
Lyon PuLayratr.

In France, the French Academy of Arts and Sciences
deputed M. Charles Morren, of Liege, to examine into the
cause of the potatoe rot. Mr. Morren is a foreigner, and his
selection by the French, for this inquiry, is a sufficient guar-

‘The Potatoe Plague. 61°

antee for his talents and ability. . This gentleman states the
result of his investigation to be, that the rot is caused by a
JSungus, the spores or seeds of which exist in vast quantities
in the atmosphere, and this opinion has been generally re-
ceived as true by the best informed circles in Europe. But
the letter is a document so important to the present question,
as conveying the prevailing opinions that are entertained om
this subject in Europe, that we quote it below.

Mr. Morren, after stating that the evil has prevailed in:
Belgium for several years, though to a far less alarming”
degree than at present, proceeds :

“The real cause of the evil is a fungus, or sort of mush--
room, which the learned will classify under the genus botrydis,
but which agriculturists, without further specification, will call’
a spot, or blemish, or blotches. This mushroom is of ex-:
treme tenuity, but it breeds amazingly, and reproduces itself
by thousands. Its stems are formed of little, straight, hollow’
threads, which bear on their summits one or more branches,
always divided into two, and at the end of these branches
reproductive bodies are found, which have the form of eggs,
but which are scarcely the hundredth part of a millimetre im
size. It will be said that this is a very small body to do so
much mischief; but I answer that the 7tch is not a disease:
the less to be feared because the acarve which produces it can
only be seen by the aid of the microscope.

After the formation of the yellow spot, and the develope-
ment of the botrydis on the leaf of the potatoe, the stalk
receives the deleterious influence. Here and there its epi-
dermis turns brown, blackens, and, following with the micro-
scope the phases of the evil, you perceive that it is by the
rind that the stalk is attacked. The morbid agent carries its
action from the rind on the epidermis, and though this last >
does not always disclose mushrooms, it is not the less for that
struck with death.

6

62 The Potatoe Plague.

The infection soon descends into the tubercle itself. If
the disease follows its course, the tubercle mortifies forthwith.
A potatoe is not a root, but a branch, whence it follows that a
tubercle contains a marrow, which is the eatable part to be
preferred, and a separate rind ; between the marrow and the
rind there is a zone of vessels, which represent wood. This
construction is apparent to any one who chooses jo cut a thin
slice of potatoe, and place it between his eye and the day
light. The infection attacks that part which receives the sap
on its descent.

By following the progress of the evil upon a great number
of tainted tubercles, I have been able to see how the evil, by
one continuous, progress, at length reaches the heart itself of
the potatoe, and corrupts the vegetable entirely. The skin
of the diseased potatoe comes off easily; the flesh cracks
under the knife: a flatulent liquid drips from the potatoe; a
musty, and presently an animal smell, analogous to the smell
of mushrooms recently cut, manifests itself,. and occasions
considerable nausea. My * Bes

The evil being traced to its source, the cultivator must
direct all his attention to the destruction of the fungus, or
mushroom, for it is unfortunately but too true that all the
parasites of this genus once introduced into a country, remain
there and propagate. This year the epidemic has been gen-
eral; the germ exists every where: millions upon millions of.
propagules, if their numbers are not diminished this year,
will next year attack the plants, and then it will be more
difficult to eradicate the scourge.

It is essential to adopt the following precaution :

When the leaves are decidedly spoilt, cut down the vines
forthwith, and burn them on the spot, instead of taking them.
away.

When certain varieties or certain localities are free from
the scourge at the time of the harvest, it is always prudent to

The Potatoe Plague. 63

burn the leaves, for a field may appear secure from the
botrydis, when it is not so; several leaves are attacked;
these leaves throw the propagule on to the tubercles, which,
if preserved for the purposes of reproduction, will spread the
plague the following year. ;

If the potatoes themselves are attacked, it is essential to

separate as speedily as may“be, the potatoes that are tainted
from those that are not. Turn the sound ones over to account
as soon as possible, for they are not noxious so long as the
rind does not become yellow. The diseased ones should be
burnt.
As it is probable that the tubercles preserved for seed will
be infected with the spawn of the mushroom, it would be ad-
visable for cultivators who can, to procure tubercles for
reproduction from places where the present scourge is
anknown.

In case of using for reproduction the tubercles of crops
visited by the plague this year, it will be necessary to sub-
mit them, previous to planting, to the agency of lime, as it is
practised with wheat and all plants that are liable to invasion
by parasitical bodies. The process ought to be by the im-
mersion of the tubercles in lime water. Fifty pounds of
lime, a quarter of a pound of sulphate of copper, and six
pounds of marine salt, for twenty-five quarts of water, consti-
tute a preparation, the utility of which, in the destruction of
parasite vegetation, has been experienced by a great number
of well-informed cultivators. '

In the plantations of the spring of 1846, it is essential to
plant potatoes in fields as far as possible removed from those
actually infected this year, to avoid the danger from the
retention in the soil of the spawn of the fungus.

The use of lime and manure salt, with a slight mixture of
sulphate of copper, is, as I have already said, of acknowl-
edged efficacy in the destruction of parasite germs. Conse-

o

«64 The Potatoe Plague.

quently, to powder over with such a mixture, a soil in which
diseased potatoes have grown, is a good operation for destroy-
ing in that land the germs of the scourge. The operation
ought to be recommended everywhere.

The storing of potatoes from fields that have this year been
attacked by the scourge, in cellars, caves, &c., will certainly
be to deposit the spawn of the mushroom in those very places.
They should, therefore, before receiving the potatoes, be
thoroughly cleansed, and scoured with lime, or ground char-
coal scattered over the bottom, (and on the potatoes as they
are stored,) which will conclude the series of operations, the
most rational and the most certain for destroying, if possible,
the evil at its root.

C. H. Morren,
Member of the Royal Academy of Sciences.
Liege, August 14, 1845.”

The Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, sixth vol-
ume, contains an article on “ The prevention of curl and dry
rot in potatoes,” by H. S. Thompson, which is valuable and
interesting as it contains the result of extensive observation
and experiments on the subject, for the, last five years. The
editor of the New England Farmer thinks that “the disease
therein described is analogous, if not ideatical with the one
so prevalent in many sections of our own country,” and, he
adds, “it may vary in its effects in different soils, seasons, or
climates.” Mr. Thompson commences his article by first
mentioning the results to which he has been led, which are:

“That curl and dry rot are caused by leaving the pota-
toes intended for seed in the ground until ripe, and that, on
the other hand, these diseases may be prevented by taking up
the seed potatoes whilst the tubers are unripe and the tops
still green.”

1840. “Having had my attention strongly drawn to the

The Potatoe Plague. 65

failure in the potatoe crop,’ says Mr. Thompson, “I paid
more than ordinary attention to the selection of seed, and in
1840 planted sixteen acres with potatoes, making choice of
two kinds of round red varieties, both of them new to my land.
The gentleman from whom I obtained them, having two farms,
one of stiff, the other of light land,—had changed his sets
regularly from one to the other. I planted them on a sandy
loam, which was in a high state of cultivation, and my reason
for planting it with potatoes was solely because I was aware
if sown with corn it would be so lodged as to be nearly
worthless. They were planted in the last week in April. I
naturally expected a heavy crop, but was much disappointed,
-as symptoms of curl soon appeared. This increased, and
though few of the plants perished, nearly the whole were
unhealthy. Iwas so much surprised at the appearance of
curl that I watched and examined the plants at several
periods of their growth, taking up roots here and there
wherever I observed one either better or worse than its
neighbors. The appearance of all those affected was nearly
the same. The set, as long as the weather was dry, crum-
bled and perished, —the disease seeming to proceed from
certain spots or pits as centres, and gradually destroying the
whole set. The cut sets were the worst, and the decay
always commenced from the cut side of the set, but the
whole ones also suffered.

As soon as the weather became wet, these appearances
changed, and the diseased portion of the set resembled a
sponge, which after a short time became black and offensive.
The effect on the plant was well marked. Wherever the
disease had made a decided impression on the set, the stalks
of the plant were marked with brown streaks and patches,
and evidently showed that the juices which they were con-
ducting from the set were vitiated and noxious. The part
of the stalk to which I directed my attention was that under-

6*

66 The Potatoe Plague.

ground, in which it was easy to trace the progress of the
disease, from their being white and nearly transparent.
“Wherever the stalk was curled, I found the sets diseased. In
<some eases the disease carried the day, and the set reaching
-an advanced stage of decomposition, and the stalks below
‘pround becoming quite brown, the tops died away. Ina
subsequent season (1844) most of the sets attacked perished ;
but on this occasion a great majority of the plants threw
-out strong roots, and finding an abundant supply of food,
“maintained a constant struggle with the disease, and event-
ually yielded a good half crop.

The experience of this season convinced me that eurl, dry
‘rot and wet rot, are one and the same complaint; that curl is
a mild attack of the disease, which, when violent, destroys
-the set’ before it can germinate ; and that it assumes the form
-of dry or wet rot according to the degree of moisture of the
soil or season. I have repeatedly seen potatoes affected with
dry rot, in a few days assume appearances by which wet rot
‘is usually described; and this change was evidently attrib-
-utable to heavy rains which had fallen in the interval.

1841. As TI still considered the red potatoes above-men-
‘tioned to be good Kinds, and that the occurrence of curl was
accidental, I determined to give one of them another trial;
and accordingly, I planted about an acre and a half with sets
from the crop of 1840, which had suffered so much from curl.
‘They were planted as late as the 8th of June, the weather
dry and unfavorable ; yet in spite of these disadvantages they
came up well, grew luxuriantly, and produced an excellent
crop. Side by side with these potatoes two other kinds were
grown; one a black kidney, a very superior potatoe for the
‘table, the other a cattle potatoe. ‘These were bought sets,
nor do I know how they had been previously treated. Both,
however, were failing crops. The experience of this year
was valuable, running directly counter to what has been so

The Potatoe Plague. 67

frequently asserted by the authorities, namely, “ that curl ts
sure to increase, and that curled sets are to be avoided like the
plague.” 'The explanation of the rule and of this exception
to it, appears to me to be as follows:

Curled potatoes ripen early, some weeks before the healthy
plants, and consequently are almost always too ripe, when
taken up, to make good sets, and if so used the disease will
rapidly increase each successive season.

In this instance, however, the infected potatoes were taken
up before they were ripe, and proved tc be as good sets as
could be used. The potatoes above-mentioned were taken
up the second week in November, 1841. Having been
planted so late the round reds were not ripe; the black kid-
neys, a much earlier variety, were.

1842. The same potatoes were used for seed this year.
The unripe reds produced an excellent crop, without, so far
as Iam aware, a single failing plant. The ripe black kid-
neys were again a failing crop. ‘In the middle of May I
planted, with these black kidneys, a small piece of old grass
land, as a preparation for forest trees. This plot of ground
had been from time immemorial flowed over by the waste
water from an old and ill-constructed farm yard, immediately
adjoining, and was therefore as rich as could well be im-
agined. The potatoes had immense tops, but very small tu-
bers ; and, when boiled, the favorite black kidneys seemed
quite to have changed their character. Instead of the fine
mealiness for which they are remarkable, they now bore
much resemblance to a piece of. yellow soap. They also
continued growing till the frost and snow made it dangerous
to leave them any longer in the ground, and they were taken
up still thoroughly unripe. The round reds, grown on old-
going land, were taken up ordinarily ripe, and were mealy
and good.

1843. These two kinds were again used for seed,. and

68 The Potatoe Plagae.

the white reds had numerous failures, but the unripe black
kidneys were as even and vigorous a crop as could be wished.
I had not yet learnt to attribute the failure to-its right cause,
and was accordingly much puzzled to account for the curl
among the round reds, which had thriven so well the two
previous seasons. In consequence of the heavy fall of snow
in October, they were taken up earlier than was intended,
and the red potatoes were not ripe, but the black kidneys,
(a capital crop) were.

1844. It was during the spring of 1844, that I became
convinced that the maturity of the potatoe intended for seed
materially affected the vigor of the future plant; and the crop
of this year furnished me with some facts strongly corrobora-
tive of this opinion. The ripe black kidneys again failed to
a great extent; not less, I think, than half the sets perished
without vegetating, or only showed puny curled tops, and died
without forming ‘tubers larger than peas. ‘The unripe reds
were planted in a particularly unfavorable place, namely, an
old lane which had been just added to an adjoining field, and
was so hard and dry that parts of it had to be broken up with
pickaxes. In consequence of the long drought the planting
was delayed for several weeks in hopes of rain, but as none
came they were put into the ground as dry as dust and plant-
ed without manure; no rain, with the exception of a light
shower, fell till the potatoes were up. Still, in the whole of
the piece, rather more than an acre, I could not discover that
a single plant had failed, and the braird was universally
strong and healthy. It will be well to present their results
in a tabular form. I shall assume that the red potatoes
bought in 1840, and the black kidneys in 1841, had been
taken up ripe; and their mealiness will justify such an as-
sumption, as unripe potatoes are always watery, and unfit for
the table.

The Potatoe Plague. 69

Rounp Reps.

Year. Seed taken up. Quality of crop: Quantity of crop.
1840 ‘Ripe, supposed Curled Failing crop.
1841 Unripe No Curl | Good crop.
1842 Unripe No Curl | Good crop
1843 Ripe Curled Indifferent crop
1844 Unripe No Curl | Good crop
Biack KIpneys.
1841 Ripe, supposed |Curled Failing crop
1842 Ripe Curled ~ | Light crop
1843 Unripe No Curl Capital crop
1844 Ripe Much curled) Very bad crop

Had the above results been obtained by experience con-
trived for the purpose, they could not have borne more direct-
ly on the point in question, as we find in the wet summer of
1843, and the extraordinary drought of 1844, as well as in
the average seasons of 1841 and 1842, it accidentally hap-
pened that part of my potatoe crop was grown from ripe, and
another part from unripe sets, and in every case with success
from the one, and failure from the other; thus showing that
-the seasons could not be blamed as the cause of curl. To
make these instances still more conclusive, it also happened
that each of the two very different kinds of potatoes named
were alternately affected by or free from curl; thus showing
that it was not a peculiarity belonging to a particular kind
of potatoe.

Thus far I have detailed my own experience only ; but
when it first occurred to me that over-ripening of the set was
the cause of the curl, I naturally became anxious to compare
the experience of others with my own, and make many in-
quiries on the subject from other potatoe growers. The
information thus received still more strongly confirmed me
in my previous opinion, and I select one or two of the cases

70 The Potatoe Plaque.

which appear to me most in point. The first gives the result
of two opposite methods of treating potatoes intended for seed
as practised by two intelligent farmers.

The first farmer has planted the same kind of ash-top kid-
ney for more than tefl years. The first year or two he took
up those intended for seed at the same time as those intended
for consumption; but found that they grew so much during
the winter that they were obliged to be sprouted twice, which
weakened the set so much as to injure the crop. He then
tried the effect of leaving them longer in the ground — some-
times as much as three months after the plant was ripe. This
produced the desired effect of preventing the growth during
winter; but after some years’ continuance he found the ger-
minating power so much injured that they were a month or
more later in coming up than those of his neighbors, treated
in the ordinary way. In fact, he could scarcely get them to
grow at all, and was forced to change his plan.

The second farmer has grown ash-top kidneys for some
years, and finds them better and earlier than when he first
got them. Is in the habit of planting those he intends for
sets after taking up his crop of cabbages, which is at the end
of June or beginning of July. He also takes them up before
they are ripe; never finds them fail; they grow earlier in
spring than potatoes not so treated, and make stronger and
healthier plants.

The contrast between these two instances is very complete.
Two men, living not above two hundred: yards from one—
another, and whose gardens are almost precisely similar,
grow the same kind of potatoe in the same seasons. The
potatoes of the last named being taken up unripe, improve
both in vigor and early maturity, while the first, which are
left in the ground till over-ripe, will scarcely grow at all.

Another case. A farmer in Tawden, near Scarborough,
(which some years ago supplied large quantities of potatoes

The Potatoe Plague. 71

for seed,) has been a potatoe grower for thirty years, used
formerly to send five or six hundred bushels of ‘Tawdon kid-
neys annually to Selby, where they were used for seed, and
the produce sent to London. He used to grow two hundred
bushels to the acre, but now considers fifty bushels a good
crop; has failed so repeatedly the last five years in growing
a crop, that this year, 1844, he has none, and believes there
is but one man in the township who continues to grow the
kidneys.

I will now state the chemical facts which appear to me to
confirm and explain the above-mentioned results of practice.
It is notorious to potatoe growers that a marked change takes
place in the quality of the tuber when the stem and leaves
wither, and that potatoes taken up when the plant is still
growing, are watery, though a portion of the same plot, if of
a good sort, and in suitable soil, taken up a few weeks later,
will be found light and mealy. This is probably owing to the
deposition of starch in the tuber by the descent of the sap,
when the growth of the plant has ceased, and is apparently
analogous to the very similar process described by Liebig as
taking place in all perennial plants.

“ All the carbonic acid which the plants,” remarks Liebig,
speaking of perennial only, “now absorb, is employed for
the production of nutritive matter for the following year.
Instead of woody fibre, starch is formed, and is diffused
through every part of the plant by the autumnal sap.” To
remove every doubt on the subject, however, I took up por-
tions of two kinds of potatoes, growing in very different situ-

_ations, and a ripe and unripe sample of each, to an analyzing
chemist, merely numbering the samples, and requesting to
know the per centage of starch in each. The result was as
follows :

72 The Potatoe Plague.

Water. Starch. Dry fibre.”
1, Black Kidneys, Unripe, 68.7 17.7 13.5
2, do. do. Ripe, GA 37.9. .- 10
No. 3, Round Reds, Unripe, 69.8 15.1 15.0
4, do. do. Ripe, Te die 8.2-

The proportion of water in the unripe samples here seems
to be four per cent. less than in the ripe samples, having been
taken up some weeks earlier, and kept out of the ground
until the others were considered ripe enough. Neglecting
the water as unconnected with the present inquiry, we find that
the proportion of starch to the other solid matters is as
177 : 135 in the unripe kidneys, but as 179 : 100 in the ripe ;
or reducing both to a common measure, he have :

Starch: other solid matters : : 151: 100 in the unripe kid-
neys. : : 179: 100 in the ripe do.

In the round reds reducing as before to a common mieas-
ure :

Starch: other solid matters : : 100 - 100 in the unripe reds.
216-100 inthe ripe do.

In each case it thus appears that the proportion of starch
to the other solid matters had increased considerably in the
interval which had elapsed between taking up the ripe and
unripe parcels. The remark will probably be made here,
that though an increase of starch has undoubtedly taken place,
yet the quantity present was considerable before, why then
should an addition to it injure the germinating power of the
set? To answer this question it is necessary to state briefly
the doctrine propounded by the most eminent vegetable
physiologists of the present day, who aflirm that during the
act of commencing germination a substance called “ diastase,”
is generated from the nitrogenous substances contained in

The Potatoe Plague. 13

the germinating seed, which diastase assists in the conver-
sion of starch into the gum, sugar, &c., which are required
for the nourishment of the young shoot. The potatoe con-
tains a very small per centage of nitrogenous matter. I
would, therefore, venture the suggestion that the great addi-
tion made in the process of ripening, to the already large stock
of starch contained in the tuber, may be more than can be -
converted into the gum, sugar, &c., by the small quantity of
diastase generated in the germinating potatoe. If this be the
case, then it would follow that the diastase being mixed with
too large a proportion of starch (like leaven mixed with too
large a proportion of dough) only does: its work imperfectly,
and the result is a weakly shoot, whilst a portion of the |
starch, failing to receive the vitalizing-influence of the dias-~

tase, undergoes the natural course of decay, and produces the
symptoms peculiar to dry-rot, wet-rot, or curl. This suppo-
sition is, of course, pure theory, and must not be confounded
with the facts on which it is based. To make it quite clear
where the one ends and the other begins, I will very briefly
recapitulate. Facts have been brought forward to prove that
ripe sets are subject to curl, and vice versa, also that a large
addition is made to the quantity of starch in the potatoe in
the process of ripening. Direct. experiment also proves that
“diastase” is required for the germination of seeds, which
diastase can only be formed from some substance containing
nitrogen ; potatoes contain a very small proportion of such sub-
stances, and therefore can have but very little diastase. Here
our facts end, but from these premises I would hazard the
deduction that if we allow our seed potatoes to ripen, they
acquire more starch than can be made available to the grow-
ing shoot; which excess naturally decays, and then infects
and injures, or even destroys, the plant with which it is con-
nected. A similar effect is produced in the human subject
when more food is taken into the stomach than the gastric

7

74 _ The Potatoe Plague.

juice is able properly to digest. The imperfectly converted
aliment produces various kinds of inconvenience, and, if
persevered in, derangement of the whole system, though the
food itself in moderation may be perfectly wholesome.

It would be doing injustice to the theory before stated, if
it were sent forth to the public without a brief notice of
some of the objections which at once occur to those conv¥er-
sant with the subject. The first that I shall allude to 1s,
that the management of seed potatoes during winter, the
mode of planting, and more especially the nature of the

season after planting, exercise a very decided influence in

modifying or increasing the potatoe failure; which, at first
sight, seems hardly reconcilable with the supposition that
such failure is dependent on the degree of maturity of the
seed potatoes when harvested. I at once admit that if seed
potatoes are kept in too large a heap and allowed to fer-
ment, or if kept so warm as to induce excessive growth
during winter, or in any other way are so treated as to
weaken, their vitality, the sets will, many of them, fail, and
others make weak and unhealthy shoots, very much resem-
bling, and possibly identical with, curl. It must be borne in
mind, however, that though I consider over-ripening of the
seed to be the ordinary cause of curl, I by no means assert
that it is the only one. I am well aware that deficient man-
agement will, especially if followed by long drought, produce
failing crops, and whether such failure be due to curl or not,
I can offer no opinion; but the great puzzle to potatoe
growers has been that, with the most careful management,
failures continually occur, and these failures may, I think, be
traced to ripe sets. That the influence of season is great
I should be the last man to deny, as in two instances where
my potatoe crops were affected with curl, (distinctly traceable
to having used ripe sets,) they continued to get worse so long
as the drought lasted, but on the occurrence of heavy rains

-

-

The Potatoe Plague. 75

they improved very much; and this is quite in keeping with
my theory, as when once the plant has a stem and leaves
whereby to elaborate nourishment from the atmosphere, and
roots which purvey from below, a large supply of moisture
will give it such an abundant flow of sap that the vitiated
juices of the decaying set will both be very much diluted and
_ the plant will derive sufficient vigor from external sources
to outgrow a slight ailment; whereas in a droughty season,
the plant is much more dependent on the set, and this at such
a time furnishes the poison in a concentrated form.
The next objection I shall notice is, that one of the best
ways of getting rid of curl hitherto known, is to grow the
potatoes intended for seed on a piece of old meadow or other
land that has been long uncropped. This is easy of expla-
nation. Fresh land contains a supply of food which has
been accumulating for years, and accordingly produces a
more luxuriant growth and later maturity. Every one must
have remarked that in a dry season plants of all kinds are
less fully developed, but ripen earlier. This is doubtless
owing to the less liberal supply of nourishment which they
receive; for even where the land is abundantly manured,
plants cannot avail themselves of it without moisture. When
a plant has attained a certain stage of growth, even though
considerably below its ordinary developement, should its sup-
ply of food be stinted, either in consequence of drought, or of
a scarcity of the necessary elements in the soil, it will at once
proceed to form and mature itsseed. This is readily observ-
able in the case of weeds. The same species of grass which
is common in our meadows will be frequently found grow-
ing by a roadside, or even on a gravel walk, and in dry
~ weather will flower and bear seed, though so stunted and
dwarfish as scarcely to be recognizable. This will occur con-
siderably earlier in the season than the time of ripening of
the same species of grass in an ordinary meadow, and again

76 The Potatoe Plague.

the meadow-grown plant will ripen far before another of the
same species grown by a ditch side or in other moist, rich
soil, and this last will as much exceed the meadow plant in
size and luxuriance as the one in the meadow did the one in
the gravel walk. The Poa annua is a species of grass which
may frequently be found in all the three situations above
named. That potatoes are not exempt from this law of
nature I have had abundant proof. On the occasion previ-
ously mentioned, where I planted potatoes on a piece of rich
old turf, soaked for years with the drainage of a farm-yard,
they never did ripen, but grew on through the whole autumn,
and were as green and vigorous in November as they had
been in July. At last a heavy fall of snow came, with a
severe frost, and in forty-eight hours they were as black as
if they had been burnt, but the tubers were still thoroughly
unripe, and were the very worst on the table and made
the best sets that I have ever possessed. In 1844 I had
also a strong instance. In reclaiming an old lane some
parts had to be lowered and some hollows to be filled up,
and both being planted with potatoes at the same time, those
planted where the old hollows had been, and which now had
a considerable depth of fresh soil, grew considerably taller
and ripened some weeks /ater than those on the ridges whence
the soil had been taken; though even in these places consid-
erable pains were taken to retain as much of the surface soil
as possible ; and as the ridges and depressions ran parallel to
each other for forty or fifty yards together, the marked dif-
ference in the time of ripening caught the eye at once. I
have also frequently observed that potatoes planted near
hedgerow trees (especially ash) ripen earlier than the rest of
the field. It thus appears, as well by the analogy of other
plants as by direct observation of the potatoe itself, that a
deficiency of nutriment produces early maturity, and vice
versa. Fresh soil, it will at once be admitted, contains an

The Potatoe Plague. 77

extra supply of food; potatoes, therefore, grown on such soil,
will be in a growing state when those on old-going land will
be quite ripe, and if harvested together the former will be
unripe and make good sets. It is very probable, however,
the more abundant supply of all the elements of nutrition to
be found in fresh soil may have a considerable effect, and
concur with the under-ripening of the seed in producing a
healthy and vigorous plant.

7T*

CHAPTER Ii.

‘A View of the different Theories entertained on the Potatoe
Plague.

Tue article from Mr. Thompson, which forms a large part
of the preceding chapter, has been given almost entirely as it”
was originally published, because it contains, I believe, the
most rational theory that has yet been promulgated on the
nature, cause, and cure of the Potatoe Plague. It is true
that his argument does not extend so far as to cover the
present appearances which the plague has assumed, but it
leads us to expect results precisely similar to those which are
now recognized with reference to it, and may be regarded as
prophetic, if, indeed, the view he has taken, be not assigned to
the true cause, namely, a discovery of the causes producing
the malady. A remarkable feature in the history of potatoe
cultivation is, that it has been free from a variety of diseases,
though, as before remarked, it has been subject to disease
from a very early period of its existence. The Curl and the
Taint, which last is considered a modification of the other, are
the only diseases of which any mention is made by writers on
the subject, from its first introduction as a field crop to the
present time. Now Mr. Thompson’s article, though it is
professedly on the curl in potatoes, looks forward to a devel-
opement of this disease, assuming a malignant type, which
would ultimate, as he has predicted, and exactly as we have

The Potatoe Plaque. . 79

experienced in the present crisis of the potatoe crop. If his
view be correct, and we believe it is, we need look no fur-
ther for the cause of the disease, for it is evident to all, that
the great difficulty in finding a remedy to stay the progress
of this fearful calamity has been, that its true nature was
not understood; but being understood, a remedy, simple,
and universal is at hand. Before entering upon this part of
the discussion, however, it will be necessary to give a view
of other theories and opinions that are entertained, together
with the experience and statements of cultivators in different
parts of the country.

A’ writer of considerable eminence in the field of Agricul-
tural literature, says: ;

“The first symptom of degeneracy of the plant in Scot-
land, appeared about 1780, when the distemper called the
curl was first noticed in the,crop; but it then occurred-so
rarely that very little notice was taken of it; the evil grad-
ually and extensively increased, when, about the year 1784
or 1785, the whole crops of Lothian were seriously affected
by it. A remedy, however, was accidentally discovered, by
changing the seed from the high country; and this was and
has been the only remedy for the disease of the curl to the
present day. At this early period the seed procured from a
high country had to be changed every three or four years,
but it was found, as the cultivation of the plant increased, so
did the disease, and eventually the whole seed had to be
changed yearly, as it was found a new disease appeared in
the fields — the seed only partially germinated — great blanks
or failures took place—and many farmers lost almost their
whole crops. This disease in the seed was called the wet
and dry rot; and, in many instances, seed from all situations,
high and low, has now also failed. These two kinds of dis-
ease which destroy germination have been variously ac-
counted for. Some ascribe the cause to maggots and flies,

$0: The Potatoe Plague.

‘who feed upen and destroy the seed plants; but this is a
consequence, and not a cause, for maggots and flies are only
to be found on diseased or putrid vegetables; they riot and
anquet on putrefaction; it is their natural food, and there
‘they are only to be found. Plant, then, a sound potatoe in
@ good soil, and, properly treated, it will find its way to the
surface, and produce a good crop in defiance of maggots
and flies.

The seeds of disease, then, must be in the constitution of the
plant.

In examining a diseased potatoe, which has blind eyes, and
will not germinate, it is plain that there is canker on the
skin, and plague spots all over it. This, if planted, will cer-
tainly be attacked by the maggots and flies; but the plant is
in a state of decay or putrefaction — in fact a caput mortuum
-—and it properly belongs tothe flies and maggots by right
of inheritance. The great object to be attained, then, is to
plant sound seed, and the maggots and flies will not relish
_it. It is generally allowed, and the idea has been long enter-
tained, that it is quite impossible to raise seed potatoes in low
situations or in a high temperature, without being affected
‘with the curl; but at an altitude of four hundred feet it
entirely disappears. In this there appears to be a very re-
markable peculiarity in the nature and constitution of the
plant ; but in looking to its origin, general history, cultivation
‘and general management in this country, —its success and
failure, —I have been led to a far different conclusion. In-
deed, from what I have already stated, it must clearly appear
to every one, that there can be only one cause for the fail-
ure of the potatoe plant, to wit, over-cultivation.

The first practical experience of failure which I met with
on my own farm, struck me most forcibly. In the year
1837, I had a small quantity of potatoes for seed, which I had
received from high grounds. I thought them very fine, and

The Potatoe Plague. 81

having selected the best for seed, I manured the ground
heavily in the drill, with the richest and best dung on the
farm, in order to have as many as possible for planting the
succeeding year. The extent of the ground was about an
acre, and I certainly obtained an excellent crop. But as I
never planted a whole field in the same way without some
variation by way of experiment, a few drills of similar seed
were placed next to them, very moderately manured. At
the time of taking up the crop, the plants were still green
in the tops. The few drills already mentioned were pitted
on the end of a pit not meant for seed, and the produce of the
acre was pitted by themselves. Next season I planted the
greater part of the produce of the acre in the usual way, and
lost one third of the crop. I also planted the produce of the
few drills in the ordinary way, and had a little curl, but not
a single blank.

My view is that a heavy or over-grown crop of potatoes,
in any soil or situation, will always yield bad seed potatoes ;
and that over-cultivation is the sole or chief cause of the de-
generacy of the plant; and all my experience completely
confirms me in this position.

I come now, says this writer, to the cure, or remedy of
the disease, or the best means of procuring and raising good
seed. I would recommend to select the best varieties, and
raise from the apple; but, in the mean time, to have the
best and soundest seed for present planting,—always, of
course, avoiding the produce of a great crop, grown in any
situation or soil. The land intended for seed should be
ploughed deep in the autumn. The drills to be thirty inches
wide, and manured moderately, with a mixture of earth, and
if earth has not been previously mixed with the manure, a little
may be drawn into the drills above the manure, and before
planting the seed. The ground intended for seed should be
planted with whole potatoes, and about fourteen inches apart,

82 The Potatoe Plague.

or the potatoe cut into two pieces, and planted at ten inches,
(both may be tried;) the plants to be placed near the sur-
face, and never highly earthed up by the plough, as it is nat-
ural for the tubers of the plant to run upwards, and the more
of them that may be exposed to the sun and air in ripening,
will make so much better seed. They should be taken up
rather green and unripe than otherwise, but approaching to a
ripe state. They should be placed in pits, (in an airy situ-
ation,) of about two and a half feet at bottom; the pits may be
made of tolerable length. They should have first a little
earth thrown over them —say, half an inch—and thena
good covering of straw, finishing with a few inches deep of
earth, as it is the straw which will defend them from frost,
and a few straw funnels at a short distance is all that is
necessary. _

In stating the cause of the potatoe rot, a correspondent of
the Maine Farmer, E. G. Buxton, states an experiment
which he made in growing some potatoes in the cellar, ina
dark place, and they were affected with rot, like those raised
in the field. From this he infers that the disease is not
caused by rust, heat, cutting the seed, &c., but that the cause
is in the potatoe. Some person, commenting on this, at-
tributes the cause to disease in the previous crop, which was
not perceptible, and was transmitted to the new produce.

Several pamphlets on this subject have been published in
Great Britain and France, the contents of which, and the
views entertained by their compilers with regard to the causes
and remedies for the malady, I shall now briefly state.

In the Comptes rendus,* M. Payen states the result of his
chemical investigations. He finds what he calls the dry
matter, that is to say, all except the water, diminished in
quantity to the extent of twelve per cent. The diseased part

* Comptes rendus Hebdomadaires, &c., Nos. 13 to 16. Paris, 1845.

The Potatoe Plague. 83

is twice as heavy as the healthy, which he attributes to the
presence of a parasite. The loss of starch amounts to twenty
percent. There is present an azotized matter, having the
same composition as fungi. All the chemical phenomena
point to the action of such parasites, and not to spontaneous
fermentation. Messrs. Girardin and Bidard, on the other
hand, deny the presence of parasites. They find no other
indication of their presence than what occurs in all cases of
fermentation. They regard the disease as the result of sim-
ple fermentation, induced by the unfavorable season. They
recommended perfectly rotten potatoes to be crushed in tubs,
to be thoroughly washed, by which means the foul odor is
removed, and then, after draining, to be pressed into cakes,
which may be dried in ovens after the bread is withdrawn,
and given to cattle. M. Durand attributes the disease to
atmospheric causes, favored by local circumstances. He
knew it in former years, when potatoes were grown in damp
places. He denies the statement that the stems were always
affected before the tubers, and he states that dryness and
darkness are certain safeguards for the crop. Three hundred
Hectolities have been thus preserved for a month without
change, and yet they had not been very carefully sorted. M.
Gerard adverts to the admitted fact that the disease attacked
the potatoes between the 10th and 15th of August. - He is
opposed to the idea that animal or vegetable parasitism is
connected with it as a cause, and he ascribes the disease to the
presence of a brown matter “which seems to glue the starch -
grains together, and to prevent their separation.” He at-
tributes its presence to unfavorable atmospheric causes, which
caused the nutritive fluids to stagnate, and thus produced an:
alteration which ended in decay.

A Mr. Spooner has published a pamphlet which is chiefly
addressed to the question of converting potatoes into starch.

84 The Potatoe Plague.

He ascribes the disease to frost, which, however, did “ not act
directly on the tuber ; but indirectly through the leaves.”

Mr. Phillips has instituted a careful investigation of all the
facts connected with the disease, and has collected some use-
ful information. He is unable to find fungi, and aseribes the
evil to too much moisture, the effect of long continued rains,
which “stimulated the plant beyond its ability, and then
overpowered it. The plant formed more pendulums, (sie)
and tubers, than it could support, which being left to them-
selves, putrefied,’” &c. Near the end of this pamphlet is a
statement, that if the potatoe fields had been divided by
trenches into compartments, the author has xo doubt that the
present disease ‘would have been warded off. Mr. Phillips
does not seem to be aware that what are called lazybeds in
Treland, are made exactly upon his plan, and, unfortunately,
they are very far from having proved any security against
the disease. The fact, moreover, is, that the best drained
land has been as much, or more attacked, than the worst.

Mr. Buckman regards fungi analogous to that which pro-
duces smut in barley, as concerned in the evil. He finds
their seeds, (spores) sticking abundantly to the sides of the
cells, and calls the species Uredo tuberosum. He does not,
however, regard the Uredo as the basis and origin of the
evil; the looks upon it as a mere effect attributable to the
peculiar state of a late season. As' remedies, he advocates a
solution of chloride of lime, or chlorine gas; but he does not
seem to have any personal experience of their advantage.
He also mentions the following plan, adopted by Mr. Sclater,
a large potatoe grower of Exeter, as effectually stopping the
further ravages of the disease. Soak the tubers for an hour
in a weak solution of chloride of lime. Then dry well and
soak for another hour in a solution of three pounds common
soda in seventy-five quarts of water. Finally, dry them
well, and store them in a dry place. We are persuaded that

The Potatoe Plague. 85

these plans, which have been so much advocated, all resolve
themselves into one and only one process, which is, main-
taining dryness. 4

The official circular of the Poor Law Commissioners, con-
tains an extract from an official paper published in the United
States, on the potatoe disease in 1848. It appears from this
document that the evil was ascribed to heavy rains and early

_ snows.

An able writer in the Gardener’s Chronicle, G. S. Mac-
kenzie, Bart., says: “I formerly suggested that an insect
had caused the disease of the potatoe. There now seems to
be some reason for believing that it has been injured by
various causes, and that there is more than one disease at
work. While examining a number of diseased tubers, in one
(and one only) I found two small maggots luxuriating in the
rotten matter. On mentioning this circumstance, I found
that some other persons had observed the same thing. In
many potatoes I noticed round holes and cavities connected
with them, in which larvae had, no doubt, fed. But there
was no appearance of disease, the wounds having dried up
In many cases the substance of the potatoe had been con-
verted into. matter of a corky consistence; in the greatest
number the substance was a mass of wet rottenness.

I now give the opinion of Professor Liebig, published
November 5. He says, “The researches I have undertaken
upon the sound and diseased potatoes of the present year, have
disclosed to me the remarkable fact, that they contain, in the
sap, a considerable quantity of vegetable casein (cheese) pre-
cipitable by acids. This constituent I did not observe in my
previous researches. It would then appear that from the
influence of the weather, or generally speaking, from atmos-
pheric causes, a part of the vegetable albumen which prevails
in the potatoe, has become converted into vegetable casein.
The great instability of this last substance is well known ;

8

86 The Potatoe Plague.

hence the facility with which the potatoe containing it under-
goes putrefaction. Any injury to health from the use of
these potatoes is out of the question, and nowhere in Ger-
many has such an effect been observed. It may be of some
use to call attention to the fact that diseased potatoes may
easily and at little expense, be preserved for a length of
time, and afterwards employed in various ways, by cutting
them into slices about one quarter of an inch thick, and im-
mersing them in water containing two to three per cent. of
sulphuric acid. After twenty-four or thirty-six hours the
liquor may be drawn off, and all remains of it washed away
by steeping in successive portions of fresh water. Treated
in this manner the potatoes are easily dried. The pieces are
white and of little weight, and can be ground to flour and
baked into bread along with the flour of wheat. I think it
probable that the diseased potatoes, after being sliced and kept
for some time in contact with weak sulphuric acid, so as to
be penetrated by the acid, may be preserved in that state in
pits.

An advocate of the theory that the disease is caused by
fungus, gives the following statement: — “That this disease
is occasioned by a fungus in the leaf, I have no doubt, and
such I believe is the public opinion in general. I am equally
well assured that the gangrene or mortification is a mere con-
sequence of the fungus. If a certain predisposition in the
potatoe plant, occasioned by an advanced state of the ele-
ments themselves, were alone necessary to give unbounded
scope to this fungus, how, I would ask, has it happened, that
this strange condition of atmosphere has never occurred be-
fore, since the introduction of the potatoe from.South Ameri-
ca — now, I believe, nearly two hundred years? Or, shall it
be said that the disease is indeed new to Europe? On look-
ing over the weather registries for the month of August, I
find that S. W., W., and N. W. winds prevailed through

The Potatoe Plague. 87

the whole month; and even extended into September, and
this is, I should conceive, an extraordinary direction in re-
gard to their continuity. Everybody has seen, according to
the old phrase, “ motes dancing in the sunbeams.” Now, as
to the sporules of various fungi, why may it not be possible
for them to possess so little specific gravity as to be lighter
than their own volume of air— to ascend thereby in common
with mists—to be incorporated with clouds —to traverse
thousands of miles in a few days, and to descend as propa-
gandists wherever the winds choose to carry them, or for
condensation to take place? In conclusion I beg to say that
‘I would not attempt to repudiate the idea of predisposition
altovether, but merely direct the attention of the public to
facts probably equally important.

Whatever may be the origin of the fungus, says another
writer, depend upon it, perseverance must be resorted to in
order to get, rid of it; if tubers are planted with a particle of
it on them, and the season proves again congenial for its
spread, it will again destroy the crop. Asa proof of this I
planted a few infected potatoes, without putting into practice
the precaution I have used with my other potatoes, and the
consequence is that the obnoxious pest made its appearance
in its usual blotchings, while a quantity of others, which I
had stored in perfectly dry charred articles, are growing
away healthily ; a quantity with foliage and stalks above a
foot in height, clear from spot or blemish, looks at present as
well as could be wished. Depend upon it, the recommenda-
tion to shake lime about the tubers previous to planting, is
most essential to prevent the further spread of the fungi, let
the latter originate in whatever form they may, and should
be immediately put into practice. Supposing every tuber
intended for next season’s production to be individually dredg-
ed with lime, an active boy would dredge a large quantity in
a day; the expense would be trifling, either for material or

88 The Potatoe Plague.

labor ; for lime can be easily procured in any quarter; for
dredging, a box with holes is all that is required.

It appears to me, remarks another writer, that the disease
primarily attacks the stem, and I think the view I take of
the subject holds good in some cases, if not all. I maintain
that it is a disease of the fluids; the descending sap becomes
poisoned by the generation of unwholesome gasses in the
stem; from the exeessive moisture prevalent through this sea-
son, the proper exhalation of the plant has not been carried
on; thus we find that the stem undergoes decomposition,
instead of gradual decay, and this deteriorates the descending
sap, which, passing to the root, poisons, as it were, the tubers.
My own potatoes, which were planted on new ground, on a
very steep slope, are not in the least affected. Where they
were grown on higher ground, the tops died early, and the
tubers are as healthy as possible. Before the last rain I dug
about a rood — both from the lower and the higher ground,
and all were equally sound. A few rows remained, which I
was prevented by the rain from digging up; these I have
since gathered, and they have shown symptoms of disease ;
the tops were fine, but after the rain they were all matted
together. During their growth I never saw tops have a
more luxuriant appearance, clear and fresh, with nothing like
specks on the leaves or stems. Another thing which leads
me to consider the sap as poisoned, is the great rapidity with
which the tubers decay. They appear healthy to all out-
ward appearance; still, in many cases, if they are kept sev-
eral days before they are stored away, the specks are mani-
fest ; first, of a dingy hue, then darker colored, and afterwards
becoming soft and rotten. If this really is the case, I do not
see of what use any of the methods as yet proposed can be.
Had the leaves or stems of my potatoes showed any signs of
specks, I would have pulled the stems out of the ground, leay-
ing the tubers a while before I dug them up; this would have

The Potatoe Plague. 89

prevented any bad effect from a deteriorated sap. A proof
might be obtained by comparing the analysis of an unsound
potatoe with that of a sound one.

Mr. J. E. Teschemacher, who favors the theory of fungus,
thus writes to the editor of the New England Farmer :

I hear, every day, of instances of parcels stored in cellars,
apparently sound when put in, which are now totally worth-
less. Depend upon it, unless some remedy be found, it will
hardly be worth while to plant potatoes another year.

In order that I may not be misunderstood, I will now suc-
cinctly state my opinions on this subject.

I think that salt, lime, and several compounds, will destroy
the disease. I prefer salt, because, when mixed in the soil,
it may get into the juices, and circulate through the whole
plant. Lime, or lime water, would do the same to a certain
extent, but it is far less soluble than salt.

The fungus I have seen, vegetates upon and thickens the
sides of the cells of which the potatoe is composed, which
cells contain the grains of starch. The starch is not injured
until the sides of the cells, rotted by the fungus,. burst — the
worms or maggots breed, and the whole finally becomes a
mass of putridity, with an offensive, fungus-like smell.

I saw in your last week’s paper, several cases of the dis-
ease occurring where sea-weed had been used, and also near
the sea-shore. These cases would seem to militate against
the idea of salt being a cure. But they are very far from
convineing me, for the following reasons: The salt atmos-
phere near the sea, may not have contained one-tenth enough
salt to destroy the rot, or the prevailing winds there may not
have spread the spray-in sufficient quantity. And with re-
spect to sea-weed, in a late London journal, there are analy-
ses of four different kinds of sea-weed, performed by burning
the weed and analyzing the ashes.

g*

90 ' The Potatoe Plague.

Ashes. Salt.
Laminaria saccharina gave to 100 Ibs. about 10 Ib. 3 Ib.

Fucus vesiculosus % 1D i) 2 eee
Fucus serratus ES 100 ©. © s20: ge les
Fucus crispus, or

Chondria crispa < 100, «, ¢ . 2oe

They varied also considerably in the other ingredients.
Now, when this great difference exists in the quantity of salt
in different sea-weeds just taken from the sea, and when it is
considered that the sea-weed is often made into a compost,
turned over and exposed to all kinds of weather, by which
salt may be washed out, it must be obvious that no true
judgment can be formed of its effects on the potatoe disease,
unless the kind of sea-weed, and all the attendant circum-
stances, be taken into account. The spores of the fungus, in
the cases alluded to, might have been, and most probably
were, so numerous, that the salt thus adventitiously obtained,
was not sufficient to destroy them.

In a paper transmitted to the N. Y. State Aaecaele eel
Society, (alluded to in a former communication,) I recom-
mended an analysis of sound potatoes, and a parallel one of
those just contantinated by the rot; and this to be done, not
in the usual way, by reducing to ashes, but by expressing the
juices and analyzing them. This would show whether there
was any difference in the ingredients that might be consider-
ed as offering favorable circumstances for fungus vegetation.
The analysis by incineration should also be tried. For, if
salt destroys the fungus, as my own eyes as well as those of
others have seen, it is a fair presumption that if we can get a
solution of salt into the juices of the plant, in any shape, that -
it will be unfavorable to the vegetation of the spores.

Until I see a number of experiments fairly tried with salt,
lime, &c., and they have failed, I shall not be persuaded that
the views I have taken of these as remedies for the potatoe

The Potatoe Plague. 91

evil, are erroncous,— and should they prove of no value,
I am quite ready to give them up and try again.

A. B. Allen, Editor of the American <Agriculturalist thus
sums up, in a few words, the whole subject. The disease is
probably a fungus. The best remedies are salt, lime and
charcoal. We recommend procuring new seedlings, and be
very careful not to let them get mixed with old ones. Plant
next spring without other manures than plaster, salt, lime,
charcoal or ashes. A good sod, with the addition of the
other materials, will be sufficiently rich to raise a large crop ;
and, depend upon it, if the seed be of a good variety, and it
escapes the rot, the crop will be sweet, mealy, and highly
nutritious — the best for animals as well as for man.

As the disease is more generally attributed to the attacks
of fungi than to any other cause, a few remarks on the cause
of fungi, will not be inappropriate to this inquiry, and I give
them place here. A writer in the Farmers’ Cabinet says —

» Close observation will show, that all plants of the fungi
tribe grow where there is a deficiency of alkalies. We never
see mushrooms, toadstools, or any thing of the kind, grow on
or near a heap of ashes or lime. But we almost invaribly
see them growing on or near a pile of stable dung, or any
thing yielding a large proportion of carbonic acid. The cause
of this is easily demonstrated by chemistry. A chemical
analysis of plants of the fungi tribe, will show that they con-
tain an extremely small proportion of alkali, far smaller than
any other class of vegetables. The fact is of the highest im-
portance to farmers; by its aid they can always tell when
their soils need alkaline substances to make them more pro-
ductive, without going to the trouble and expense of a chemi-
cal analysis of the soil for that purpose. Upon whatever
spot of ground the fungi make their appearance, there is a
want of alkali, and no time should be lost in supplying it, if
we would raise profitable crops; for such crops as wheat,

92 The Potatoe Plague.

corn, oats, hay, potatoes, &c., will not grow well there, even
if they are supplied with the very best stable manure. They
need ashes, lime, &c., in such places, and they cannot do with-
out them. ;

The fungi being composed principally of carbon, oxygen,
and hydrogen, feed upon carbonic acid and water chiefly, and
consequently if lime or potash be added to the soil where
they grow, and the carbonic acid be thereby changed into a
salt, the fungi have nothing to feed upon, and therefore die,
for they cannot feed upon a salt.

When the potatoe crop has been furnished with sufficient
alkali, particularly potash, and the carbonic acid in it is in
the form of a carbonate, the fungi have nothing to feed on,
and do not attack the potatoe. On the other hand, when
there is not sufficient alkali given to the potatoe crop to cause
the carbonic acid to form a salt by union with such alkali,
then the carbonic acid in the potatoe is in its own form of
carbonic acid, and as such the sickly root offers the propers
food to the fungi, and it avails itself of it; unfortunately for
doing so, it brings down upon itself the charge of being the
cause of the potatoe disease.*

The same is the case with other plants. If they lack alkali
to form a salt in connection with the carbonic acid they re-
ceive, the superabundant carbonic acid will give nutrition to
the seeds of fungi, and they will sprout and grow. We see
this effect produced in wheat in the case of mildew, rust, or
blight, and also smut in the same plant, the ergit in rye, the
“ devil’s snuff-box ” in corn, the mildew in oats, buckwheat

*Some of the practical chemists of this city, with their balances, tests, &c.,
might do the agricultural community a great service in connection with
this matter, by analyzing sound potatoes, and giving their constituents ;
and then analyzing the rotten potatoes, and giving their constituents also.
The public might then compare them, and see what was wanted, and sup-

ply it.

The Potatoe Plague. 93

and the grasses, and the mossy growth on the bark of fruit
and other trees. This is demonstrated by the fact, that if
we apply strong alkalies in sufficient quantities to any of these
plants, before they are attacked by the fungi, they will not be
attacked ; and if we supply them after they are attacked,
they will soon be freed from them. It is to this purpose that
our most successful farmers and fruit raisers apply salt and
lime to protect wheat from rust, mildew or blight, and smut,
and put ashes and lime upon corn to protect it from the
“snuff-box,” and sow ashes on potatoes to save them from
the rot, and wash fruit trees with whale oil, soap or other
alkaline substances, to restore them to health. These alka-
line substances, too, by uniting with the carbonic acid, pre-
vent the commencement of decay. This commencement in
all carboniferous substances, is called, in chemistry, the sac-
charine fermentation, the product of which is a sweet subs
stance, which gives food to flies, bugs, &c., and which flies
and bugs are also charged by other scientific gentlemen, with
*being the cause of the potatoe rot, and other diseases of
plants. The Hessian fly, in my opinion, finds nothing suited
to its palate in a healthy stalk of wheat, or one that has
enough alkali, and therefore does not attack it; but in a sickly
plant, or one with a deficiency of alkali, she finds the sweet sub-
stance upon which she feeds, and there lays her eggs; which
eggs, in the course of time, hatch and produce worms, and if
the plant is in such a condition as to furnish food for these
worms, they will still remain there ; but a healthy plant will
not furnish that food,—the same in regard to the wheat
worm, muck worm, and all other worms that attack plants,
Iam led to this conclusion by numerous observations and
some experiments. I have found that where there was a
proper quantity of alkaline substances, plants were not injur-
ed by worms, bugs, or flies, in any other way than by being
eaten up by them. And, indeed, they are not so apt to be

94 The Potatoe Plaque.

eaten when they have a sufficiency of alkalies, for by their
aid they form carbonate of lime, phosphate of lime, silicate of
potash, &e., and make their stalks and leaves so hard and
strong as to be almost impenetrable to the attacks of many
insects that infest them. And their juices are so insipid that —
they are not so well relished by such insects.

CHAPTER IIil.
Causes of the Disease, and Remedies Stated.

I HAVE now given, as fully as my limits would permit, the
most important particulars concerning the history, cultivation,
and diseases of the potatoe. Ihave given the various theo-
ries that are entertained respecting the prevailing disease,
and come now to state what I consider to be the causes of the
malady that threatens a total destruction of the potatoe crop
of the world, and the appropriate and simple remedies that
will be found efficacious in staying its further progress in the
crop of 1846, and preventing it for future time.

The prevailing theories on the subject may be recapitulat-
ed as follows : —

Atmospheric influences.
. Effects of manure.
Wet weather.
. Dry weather.
. Excessive heat and cold.
. Deterioration of the plant.
. Parasitical influences.
. Attack of the mould.
. Over cultivation.
10. Over ripening.

It must be evident even to the most superficial observer,
that a cause must be found that is universal in its effects, be-
cause the disease has spread throughout the world, regardless

oo bo be

SANDS

96 The Potatoe Plague.

of climate, soils or manures; warm or cold latitudes; in hot,
dry, wet, and cold seasons; under every possible feature of
cultivation, and in every condition of the crop, as managed by
all sorts of farmers, throughout the whole of this country and
all the countries of Europe. These facts remembered we
must discard the idea that atmospheric influences would pro-
duce the disease ; manures and soils could not produce it;
excessive heat or cold could not affect the crop so universally.
The disease has been steadily increasing for years in defiance
of all the conditions that these various theories would estab-
lish as governing the malady. They are partial in their
operation, and must, therefore, be rejected as insufficient.
The cause of rot, says an intelligent writer, cannot be in the
soil, since we find healthy and diseased potatoes growing be-
- side each other ; that is to say, on soils of the same constitu-
tion we sometimes find the rot in alternate plants, or in whole
rows. It cannot’be attributed to the atmosphere, as all plants
and roots are equally surrounded by it; nor can the cause be
in the manure, as all the tubers receive the same kind, and
nearly the same quantity. It must, therefore, be attributed
to the potatoe itself.

We have, then, to consider the most popular theory, which
ascribes the disease to the influence of the growth of fungi.
This position is the one taken by the principal vegetable
physiologists of Great Britain and this country, and most of
the directions published in the agricultural papers are made
with reference to this fact. That this is not the true cause
of the disease, is, I think, made sufficiently clear by the con-
cluding paragraphs of the last chapter. That evidences of
the appearance of fungi have been discovered, and are dis-
coverable in all diseased potatoes, I do not deny, but I assert
that they are a consequence of disease and not the cause.
Liebig says in his Chemistry of Agriculture — “The micro-
scopical examination of vegetable and animal matter, in the

The Potatoe Plague. 97

act of fermentation or putrefaction, has lately given rise to
the opinion that these actions themselves, and the changes
suffered by the bodies subjected to them, are produced in
consequence of the developement of fungi, or of microscopical
animals, the germs, or eggs of which are supposed to be dif-
fused every where, in a manner inappreciable to our senses ;
they are supposed to be developed when they meet with a.
medium fitted to give them nourishment.

“Tt is certain that sponges and fungi, growing in places:
from which light is excluded, follow laws of nutrition differ-
ent from those governing green plants; and it cannot be
doubted that their nourishment is derived from putrefying
bodies, or from the products of their putrefaction, which pass
directly into this kind of plants, and obtain an organized
form by the vital powers residing within them.. During their
growth they constantlysemit carbonic acid, increasing in
weight at the same time, while all other plants, under similar
circumstances, would decrease in weight. Hence it is possi-
ble, and indeed probable, that fungi may have the power of
growing in fermenting and putrefying substances, in as far as
the products arising from the putrefaction are adapted for
their nourishment.”

The truth with regard to the appearance of fungi in pota-
toes is, then, simply this: — The disease ex7sts in the potatoe ;
putrefaction takes place, and these germs or eggs which Liebig
supposes to be every where, find in the diseased potatoe their
proper nourishment, and hence they begin to grow. If, as
is asserted, the germs of fungus are diffused every where,
why do they not affect all other crops, in a similar manner?
Simply because other crops are not diseased. But over-ripe
vegetables, fruit, and decaying or putrefying vegetable sub-
stances are affected in a similar degree, because they are:
putrefying: they are not putrefying because of the fungus.

But, admitting for a moment that the presence of fungi? is

9

98 The Potatoe Plague.

the cause of rot; a certain and immediate remedy is at hand ;
for, “ when the potatoe crop has been furnished with sufficient
alkali, the fungi have nothing to feed on, and do not attack
the potatoe;” and further, “if we apply strong alkalies in
sufficient quantities to any plants liable to attack from mil-
dew, rust, blight, &¢., (which are various developements of
fungi,) before they are attacked, they will not be attacked,
and if we supply them after they are attacked, they will soon
be freed from them.” Now alkalies have been applied in
considerable quantities to potatoes, and while growing they
have not been attacked by the rot, but after gathering and
harvesting disease has appeared and destroyed them, show-
ing conclusively that fungi is not the cause, but that a deeper
one must be sought and a more radical remedy applied.
What, then, are the causes of this extensive evil? - I state
them thus : — ;
Over RIPENING,
OvER CULTIVATION,
DETERIORATION OF SEED.
To which might be added,
~ CARELESSNESS IN SELECTING SEED.
In this last particular great losses have been sustained by
farmers, not only in the potatoe crop, but in every crop that

s

is cultivated. And this disaster to potatoes may, as its cause
is discovered, eventually prove a blessing, by showing the
prime importance of selecting good seed. It is surprising
that farmers will obey almost every law that must be observ-
ed in good cultivation, and yet neglect to supply themselves -
with seed, properly saved and cured. It admits of de-
monstration that much of the losses arising yearly in the
various crops of our agriculture, are traceable directly to the
want of good and pure seed. Of what use, I would ask, is
thorough cultivation, plowing, hoeing, pulverizing and. man-
uring, if the grand object for which all this labor is expended

The Potatoe Plague. 99

is not promoted? and how can it be accomplished without
good seed? Cultivators have practised as though that was
a matter of no importance, and yet, it would seem, every
year’s experience would teach them better; for, do they not
‘see, every season, how much quicker sales and better prices
farmers receive for good products than for those which are
inferior? and yet they say, it is their neighbors’ luck, when
it is clearly the result of judicious foresight.

A false economy prevails on this subject. Many farmers
look for seeds of the lowest price. This is wrong. The best
and purest seeds are always the cheapest, and in exercising a
proper economy, they ought to select seeds that are known to
be pure, healthy and strong, without regard to the price, pro-
vided it is within reasonable limits.

There is a great advantage in pursuing the right course in
regard to this matter. Anincreased product of one half bushel
on an acre in the average yield of corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley,
&ce., will make in the aggregate a vast amount ; and yet by using
seeds that are carefully selected for their purity, healthiness
and ‘strength, how much more than an average increase of
one half bushel per acre can be realized? In some cases
from one to ten bushels, and even a greater increase can be
obtained by attending to the selection of seeds.

Tt will be found on inquiry that those farmers who are the
most successful in producing large crops, spare neither time,
labor nor expense, in selecting their seed. Difference of soil,
situation, manures, and previous condition of the land, are to
be considered; but it will appear that the quality of ‘seed
sown has influenced the quantity of the crop as much, if not
more, than any other circumstance.

But it is not the increased quantity of a crop that is the
only advantage gained in using selected seed. Another ad-
vantage is, the superior quality of the crop, and this alone,
allowing that the average yield was the same in using good

100 The Potatoe Plague.

and bad seed, is a sufficient inducement to be very particular
in the selection. It has not escaped the observation of the
most careless purchaser of agricultural produce, or the expe-
rience of producers, that there is a vast difference in the
market value of crops of the same variety. Whence does
this difference arise? One crop is raised on a congenial soil,
with congenial food, and with better cultivation than another
had, but after all, it will be found that the quality of seed
used, influenced the value of the crop as much as any other
consideration. Take the article of potatoes. Some varieties
sell, in ordinary seasons, at retail, in Boston Market, for one
dollar per bushel, while the main stock is offered at thirty to
forty cents per bushel. The first are mealy, almost every
potatoe good, and nearly equal to wheat bread, while the
others are close, soggy, cloggy, half-decayed things.

“ Potatoes, which not fit to dig,
Would turn the stomach of a pig.”

Which are most profitable for farmers and consumers? What
is observed of potatoes is equally true of every other kind of
marketable produce.

Perhaps in no part of the duties of the farmer has there
been so much neglect as in selecting and saving potatoes for
seed. Any potatoes have been considered good enough for
that purpose, and any mode of preserving or keeping them
has been adopted. Now, to this one fact, we trace a portion
of the evil that has visited us in the potatoe crop. A greater
mistake never was committed. To build a house with un-
burnt bricks were wisdom compared with it.

By improper management in taking up the potatoe, tubers
of the finest quality are easily spoiled; and, on the contrary,
by judicious treatment, even such as are watery may be con-
siderably improved. It is of the highest consequence that light
as well as frost should be guarded against ; for light renders the

The Potatoe Plaque. 101

tubers unwholesome, and that, in proportion to its intensity
and the length of time the tubers are exposed to its influence.

The stems, and in fact all parts of the potatoe plant above
ground, are more or less poisonous. Tubers are occasionally
formed along the stem, but they are, as we all know, green
and bad. This is entirely owing to their exposure to light;
for had the stems been laid in the earth, so as to have covered
such stem-tubers from the commencement of their growth,
they would have been just as good as tubers of the under-
ground formation. Potatoes, even in their dirty state, as
taken up, will be considerably altered in color, both exter-
nally and internally, and proportionably impaired in quality,
by a few days’ exposure to light, in clear weather, although
they may not be exposed to the sun’s direct rays; but the
effect must be greater when the surface is washed and de-
prived of the partial shade afforded by the particles of soil.

The time was when potatoes were in many instances
spread out in the sun, in order to dry them before storing in
the earth. No practice could be worse, for the reasons above
stated ; and, moreover, the object in view, that of rendering
them ultimately drier and better in quality, was not attained.
On the contrary, although deprived of a portion of their mois-
ture in the first instance, yet this only left room for the
absorption of moisture contaminated with gasses, generated in
the place where they were stored.

From this I would have it inferred that potatoes should
never be cleansed or washed before they are stored; they
should be dried with the dirt remaining upon fhem, as they
were taken from the ground, but with the least possible ex-
posure to light. Potatoes for seed may remain so until it is”
time to plant them; those intended for cooking may be taken
out and dried several days before they are wanted for use. A
writer in the Revue Horticole, a French agricultural publi-
cation, is aware of this fact. THe says: “In unfavorable

g*

102 The Potatoe Plaque.
seasons potatoes are always found to be watery and without
flavor, although cooked with the greatest care. In this case
the mode of effecting an amelioration is easy; it consists in
placing them near a stove or oven, for about a week pre-
viously to their being used; at the end of that time they will
be found mealy and of good flavor.” Objects of vast impor-
tance are sometimes attained by very simple means; and
that to which the foregoing remarks apply, is by no means
underserving consideration. At a meeting of farmers in
Scotland, they gave clearly the results of their varied experi-
ence, and one fact all the speakers seemed to agree in, which
was, that potatoes left in the ground, where they grew, al-
ways produced a healthy crop. Many farmers confirm this.
One farmer says he has followed this same plan forty years
with uniform success; the potatoes were always fresh and
well tasted, and as seed, they never failed. Here is the
simplest of all plans for saving seed, for a little extra earth,
will secure them from frost. It is stated by some that extra
earth in saving potatoes is unnecessary. If they are in @
dry soil, and completely covered by it, they will not be in-
jured by the most severe frost —that is, supposing they are
to remain in the soil until they are completely thawed again.
Hundreds of potatoes are left in the ground all the winter,
many of them not more than an inch deep, and yet when
they are turned up in the spring, they are as sound as if they
had been kept in a cellar.

It has been thought that the sprouting of potatoes in cel-
lars must* have some effect on. the healthy developement-of
the future plant, and it would seem that there is some reason
for this idea, “as in the town of Ballina (Ireland) where the
rot has never appeared, I have been told that all farmers,
from the richest to the poorest, take especial care to select
those potatoes which have never sprouted in cellars, and
to plant them as quick as possible. It is said, however, that

The Potatoe Plague. 103

the crops there are beginning to fail, owing to the practice of
planting year after year on the same soil. They do not rot
but get smaller in size. An alkali of a very deleterious
nature (Solanin) is found in the sprouts of potatoes which
shoot in cellars, while not a trace of it is found in sprouts
grown in soil. How far this tends to injure the tuber is not
ascertained, but it is highly probable that such a tendency is
induced. It is not probable that the degeneration of the
tuber in one year immediately induced rot,— by neglect,
transformations have been going on for years, which have
ultimately led to it. Experiments might easily be instituted
to show how far shoots produced in cellars affect the crop,
and it is certainly worth ascertaining.

Over-Cuttivation. What has been said on this sub-
ject in the foregoing pages should be re-perused with care
and especial attention, as this is one of the main causes that
has produced the great evil. It may be asked, indeed it will
be asked, “If rot arises from this, and the other causes you
have named, why has not the evil appeared before, and why
is it so universal now?” I answer, that while the crop was
produced by manures that are not highly stimulating, on land
that did not contain a superabundance of nutritive matter,
and while the quantity produced per acre was moderate, the
disease was not developed; that in the interior, away from
cities and large towns, there was no trouble with the crop for
a great number of years; that in the immediate vicinity of
cities where manure is abundant, and the land highly fed, the
disease made its appearance in a very early stage of the cul-
tivation of the crop, and its progress was only stayed by
yearly importations of seed from back countries; that the
disease has been steadily increasing for years, and it is not
a new disease, but has progressively increased wherever the
crop is cultivated; that the manner of saving and preparing
seed, growing crops, manuring and cultivation is, and has

104 The Potatoe Plaque.

been, very nearly the same, in all the countries where the
potatoe is grown, and, consequently, all the causes which pro-
duce the disease, have been simultaneously in operation,
everywhere. That the disease is not an epidémic, we know,
because sound and unsound potatoes are grown upon the
same field. I say that the causes of the disease lie where I
have placed them, because in almost every instance where
the treatment of the crop has been based upon this theory,
there has been no rot. There-are, of course, exceptions to all
general rules, and exceptions may be named to this, but the
great fact remains true, and it will be a demonstrated truth
next year, by all who are careful in selecting land and pre-
paring their seed potatoes.

Now I lay it down as an incontrovertible fact that potatoe
sets from a highly cultivated field, and from a large crop, are
not proper for seed, and that sets from such a crop will in-
evitably give a “diseased product; it may not be visible the
first year, or the second; but the tuber is diseased, and the
disease will out. Ido not say that farmers should not strive
for large crops, but merely that sets should not be taken
from them. I cannot precisely state the law governing this
fact, but it has been remarked by Professor Morren that the
potatoe is not a root —only a branch; and if the Professor
is correct, then an easy solution for it is at hand. The plant,
by over-production, has exhausted its vital energies. And
this would seem to be the true reason why sets from such a
crop are not proper for seed. F

Over-Rireninc. Another cause to which I ascribe the
rot, is the planting of over-ripened sets. I believe it will not
be contended for a moment that over-ripened sets have not
generally been planted, neither will it be asserted that the
produce from sets not over-ripened have been, to any general
extent, affected by the disease. In some cases they have;
but, then, it will be traceable to pre-existing disease, arising

The Potatoe Plague. . 105
‘

from the same causes in previous years. There is no question
that the vital energies of a plant, if excited beyond a given
point, are injured_in their organization, and rendered unfit
for the purposes of reproduction. I speak now of those
plants which-are reproduced by cuttings, layers, and tuberous
appendages growing from them. Florists who, by the nature
of their business, are obliged to watch the nature of all plants
propagated by these means, understand the operation of this
principle, and the individuals they propagate from are gen-
erally selected with greatest care. The rules which apply
to other root crops, will not and cannot apply to potatoes,
because other root crops are reproduced by seed, and cannot
be produced by cuttings, sets, or tubers. The potatoe set is
part of the plant ; it is forced from its parent stem to perform
_ the unnatural office of perpetuating its kind. Now, this fact
borne in mind, it will be seen that the causes which I have
named as producing disease, are the most obvious, as well as
the most natural ones, and it is the simplicity of the thing
alone which has prevented the deeply learned and scientific
from making the discovery before. They have undoubtedly
made observations on these causes and understand fully the
operation of them, but as they were simple and evident, have
passed them by as of no immediate consequence.

The same thing may be remarked with regard to progress
in morals, religion, and any of the sciences. Professors in
these branches of knowledge, have not distinguished them-
selves, by any wonderful additions to their subject ; they only
adopt, apply, and illustrate known truths. New discoveries
they make not; they are things unknown; they search for
them, indeed, but look for profound and mysterious laws,
forgetting that all the truths in the arcana of nature, are so
simple that a child can understand them. This rule of .
thought and action has prevented progress from the earliest
ages to the present time, and a modern professor will be as

106 i The Potatoe Plague.

likely to sneer at my simple theory and remedies as was
Naaman, the Syrian, when told by the prophet to wash seven
times in Jordan, and he should be healed. The proud offi-
cial turned away in anger and scorn, but a serving girl fol-
lowed after him, and asked, in the language of simple
common sense, and according to the strict rules of analogy:
“My lord! if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing,
wouldst thou-not have done it?” The multitude miscon-
ceive the operations of nature: they are continually looking
for great things, and let opportunities slip that would induct
them into a more intimate knowledge of the ways of Provi-
dence. Putting water upon fire is a simple remedy, but it
is efficacious. “Cease to do evil; learn to do well,” is a
simple remedy to amend a bad life and bad habits, but it is
abundantly able to transform a spirit of darkness to assimila-
tion with the purity of angels. It is by looking for simple
causes that the greatest results are obtained.
DETERIORATION OF SEED. All the causes we have
named would naturally tend to the deterioration of potatoe
sets, and it is not at all surprising that most of the seeds of
varieties now in use, have become so weak and disorganized
as to produce diseased tubers, and so furnish food for fungi,
-and an excuse for ascribing the general decay to all the
other causes that have been assigned. Mr. Knight, the first
. President of the London Horticultural Society, and one of
the greatest men of his time, limited the duration of varieties
in a state of perfection to from fourteen to twenty years, and
remarked that the experience of most farmers would witness
for him that no variety, then in cultivation, and esteemed a
good sort, could be traced back more than twelve years. On
the other hand, it has been stated, and individual experience
« has proved, that with care, varieties have preserved their
original vigor for nearly half a century. This last is no doubt
the truth with regard to varieties, if proper care has been

The Potatoe Plague. 107
observed in managing the seed or tubers from them; but the
remark of Mr. Knight will hold generally correct in view of
the very extensive and deplorable mismanagement that has
prevailed in saving sets for replanting.

Now, having stated the causes of the potatoe plague, rot, or
taint, the remedies to be applied are easily understood and
within the reach of all. Sets from this year’s crop, that have
escaped change, may be carefully selected, and though they
may be affected by previous mismanagement, the disease
will not prevail so extensively in the new crop as it did last
year; by cultivating expressly for seed, storing and saving
them, as recommended in this book, another year will witness
a great falling off in the disease, and, eventually it will dis-
appear, as_none but healthy sprouts being planted, disease
cannot be propagated.

On the subject of planting potatoes, the following remarks
by Mr. T. Smith may be appropriately inserted in this place.
“ From the experience I have had in the cultivation of the
potatoe, I have come to the conclusion that the taint, or dry
rot, owes its origin entirely to an injudicious method of plant-
ing the seed; * and after mature consideration, I have adopt-
ed a system of planting, which I have practised for twenty
years, with such success as never once to have had an in-
stance of dry rot among my potatoe crops during that time,
although they were sometimes growing in direct contiguity to
other potatoes, which, from being planted in a different man-
ner, were laboring under the effects of disease. It shall now
be my endeavor, in as simple and as concise a manner as
possible, to lay this system before my readers, convinced that

* Much difficulty has doubtless arisen from this source, but it is vain to
ascribe the rot entirely to it, The suggestion is, however. worth attending
to, as improvements in planting, as well as in selecting seeds, must be
advantageous.

108 The Potatoe Plague.

they will find it in practice a most effectual remedy for the
disease in question. The chief cause of this disease I conceive
to be the prevalent error in planting the potatoe, of placing
the seed in a quantity of dung laid in the middle of the drill.
Any one who knows any thing of the qualities of dung,
knows that it is of itself incapable of promoting vegetation,
or sustaining vegetable life, until decomposed, and incorpo-
rated with a portion of earthy soil, and it is not therefore to
be wondered at that disease and failures in the potatoe crop
are so prevalent. The wonder is, that while such a system
of planting is persevered in, any of these crops should suc-
ceed at all under such treatment; and, indeed, this is only
to be accounted for by the small quantity and inferior quality
of the dung applied, which is generally found mixed with
great quantities of half-rotten straw and other extraneous
substances, and were it not that the fresh earth is laid imme-
diately on the top of the dung after the seed is planted, the
failure of crops would be to a much greater extent; of this I
have no doubt. The ground too, if in a very impoverished
state, may, by speedily digesting and drying up the dung,
prevent, to a great extent, a total failure of the crop, although
the seed were planted thus injudiciously in the midst of the
dung; for it will be observed that in such ground the rot is
not so destructive as in rich deep soils. The first and great
point, therefore, in setting the potatoe, is to have the manure
properly commingled with the soil before introducing the
seed, the plan I adopt in planting, briefly as follows: In pre-
paring a parcel of ground for the reception of the pota-
toe seed, I proceed to have the manure spread regularly over
the surface, and evenly dug in. I then either drill the ground,
after the manner of gardeners in sowing peas, and plant. the
potatoes in the drill, or plant them with a dibble, without
drilling, about two or three inches below the surface, the dib-
ble being formed with a broad point, so as to insure the

The Potatoe Plague. 109

potatoe having no open space left beneath it, when dropped
into the hole. For large fields which cannot well be dug or
planted in this manner I would recommend that the ground
be prepared and the dung spread exactly as for oats or barley.
Then have the ground drilled, and in planting place the seed
potatoe in the clear soil, on the back of the half drill, formed
by the return of the plough, which half drill should be made
larger than ordinary, to bring the seed as near to the centre
of the drill as possible, so as to afford it every advantage of
the fresh soil te vegetate in. In this way, the fructifying
earth, in which the seed is embedded, will secure its health-
ful vegetation, and as it progresses in its growth, and so soon
as it throws out roots, it will reap the full benefit of thé ma-
nure contained in the surrounding soil. It is of the utmost
importance to have the seed planted, so as it may have
the earth both below and above it when put in; for in keep-
ing the seed free from the dung, I apprehend, lies the whole
secret, which should be particularly attended to.”

>

10

APPENDIX.

TABLE
Of the number of sets of potatoes, and total weight of the
same, required for planting an acre at the following dis-
tances; each set containing a single eye and weighing half
an ounce ; the distance between the sets in the rows being
nine inches.

No. of sets per acre. |Weight of sets per acre.

cwt. Ibs.
Rows 18 in. apart 38.720 10 90°

eT puke eae 36.682 10 26
a i he ad 34.848 9 81
SOB Seeah ves 33.188 9. 29
GUS a: ae 31.680 8 94
Crs Oe 30.302 8 50
ea 29.040 ef
one eee 27.874 Tou
pita ea a 26.806 Tae
er ee ee 25.813 7 22
as es 24.891 6 105
AR ire ea 24.033 6. 7
pi | Dama: 23.232 6 54

On poor soil, eighteen inches between the rows may be
considered a proper distance, as may likewise be the case

On Planting Potatoes. 111

with early weak-stemmed varieties on any soil. And according
to the vigor of the stems, richness and depth of soil, the dis-
tance may be increased to thirty inches, which is wide enough
for the strongest growers, even on rich soil.

It is to be remarked that in some varieties the eyes are
not abundant. With regard to such the above number of sets
will not be obtained from the corresponding weights; but in
general it will be practicable, provided sound eyed tubers can
be employed.—Robert Thompson.

ON PLANTING CUT AND UNCUT POTATOES
FOR SEED.

AN important point which potatoe growers have taken for
experiment is the difference in produce where whole tubers
and cut sets are employed. There is a great difference of
opinion on this subject.

A good many farmers are in favor of using whole tubers.
One cultivator says: “I always use whole potatoes, which
insures a tolerable crop in all seasons, preventing dry rot in
hot weather, and rottenness in wet weather, which cut pota-
toes are so liable to.” A Leicestershire farmer says, that after
many years experience he has discontinued planting cut sets,
and substitutes whole tubers, selecting small ones, but not the
smallest; he adds, that adopting this rule, he has had an
excellent crop this year, and the tubers are extraordinarily .
large. A farmer near Birmingham finds his cut sets a total
failure, and another gives a decided preference for whole
potatoes, the poor people having lost almost all their cut sets,
while their whole potatoes stood the long drought.

[From the Genessee Farmer. ]

Mr. Tucker, —I planted last spring, three acres of pota-
toes. One half of the ground was ploughed in the fall of

Potatoes for Seed. 113
1837, and the other in the spring of 1838—the whole a
clover pasture in 1837. ‘The part ploughed in the spring
had sixty large wagon loads of straw from the barn yard put
on and turned well under the sod — that part ploughed in the
fall was well harrowed and cultivated and then furrowed
shallow, and the seed dropped in drills, and fifteen loads of
straw and sheep manure, taken from the sheep sheds, put in
the hills over the potatoes. This piece was decidedly better
than the first mentioned. The ground was naturally moist,
and the excessive rains of the springs washed and drowned
the seed very bad, so as to destroy more than a half acre, on
part of which I planted on the 4th of July early white beans,
from which I harvested three bushels of sound beans. Yet
notwithstanding the bad season and rains,.I harvested seven
hundred and fifty-five bushels of potatoes, mostly pink eyes,
the remainder a flesh colored (not the Sardinia,) which I
call long keepers, from their being a better potatoe for sum-
mer’s use than the pink eye. But the object of this commu-
nication is to give you the result of my experiment in 1838,
on the quantity of seed required.

Row. In each hill. Yield. Qual.
1 planted 1 whole large pink eye 413 Ibs. 8
2 2 middle size 42 10
3 1 do. 411 5
4 2 halves 321 9
5 t*"de! 393 3
6 2 quarters 253 4
7 1. “do. 373 1
8 1 very small 405 2
9 2 do. 41 6
10 large potatoes cut in § and drilled 39 7

10*

114 Potatoes for Seed.

The above yield was obtained from rows 14 rods long and
‘3 feet between the hills each way (measured, not guessed at.)
‘The quality numbered according to size, No. 7, decidedly the
‘best, and No. 2 had but few large enough to cook.

I ‘have for seven years assorted my potatoes at the time
of digging, and fed the small ones to my hogs, and then
in the spring I again select a few bushels of the largest, and
‘best-shaped ones, and plant by themselves and save my seed
for the next year from the product of those selected, and tn
‘no event planting a potatoe that the women had left as too
small to cook. The above, I think, will sufficiently account
for the good yield and quality of No. 8. I do not believe,
with Solon Robinson, that whole potatoes are better than cut
ones. If any person would give me the seed if I would plant
whole pink eye potatoes, I would not take it, preferring to
use a half one of my own raising. I- have just received an
order for 40 bushels of pink eye potatoes for seed, from a gen-
tleman in this county, to whom I sold the same quantity last
spring, in which he says, “the potatoes I had of you last
spring, were planted according to your direction on four acres
of ground, and I have harvested over 1200 bushels the finest
I ever saw, and I prefer purchasing seed of. you to planting
those raised on my own ground.” By persevering in the
above practice of saving seed we have increased the size of
our pink eye potatoes one third, and the yield has nearly
doubled.

I remain, yours, &c.,
S. Porter RHODEs.

Skaneateles, Feb. 18, 1839.

[From the Maine Farmer.]
Mr. Hormrs, — Sir, I propose giving the result of experi-
ments which I made the past season on seeding the potatoes.

Potatoes for Seed. 115

Perhaps your readers remember I last spring promised to
make such experiments and communicate the results to the
Farmer.

I carefully selected a piece of ground of even soil, consist-
ing of 16 rows of 20 hills each. I manured it in the hill as
evenly as possible. I then weighed the seed and planted
eight rows, commencing on one side, each row with different
seed, in the order observed in the tables below. I then
planted the eight remaining rows, commencing on the other
side in the same grder, so that if my experiment ground were
better on one side than it were on the other I should be likely,
from a combined experiment, to obtain a fair result.

I shall give the results of the experiments separately, that
your readers may see there exists a similarity in them.

I dug, counted, and weighed separately, the product of each
row, and after deducting the weight of the seed, as was very
important in order to arrive at a correct conclusion, as the
weight of the seed varied from 7} to 19} lbs. I found the
result exactly as follows. .

First EXpPErrRIMeEnt.

Weight. No. per 60 lbs.
Seed ends, _ 54 74
Middles, 493 316
Buts, 58 317
Large whole, 674 286
Small whole, 623 241
Cut longintudinally 57 234
Double seed, 56 329

Drills, 614 310

116 Potatoes for Seed.

Sreconp ExprrriIMENT.

Weight. No. per 60 Ibs:
Seed ends, 55 282
Middles, 512 318
Buts, 55 339
Large whole, 552 275
Small whole, 49} 287
Cut longitudinally, 61 274
Double seed, 51 Y 340
Drills, 913 324

ComBINED RESULTS.

Seed ends, 109 278
Middles, 1013 317
Buts, 113 328
Large whole, 122} 280
Small whole, i ae 264
Cut longitudinally, 118 254
Double seed, 107 334
Drills, 124° 317

If your readers feel the interest in following out these
experiments and reducing them to practice which I felt in
making them they will do it.

[From the Albany Cultivator. ]

There is hardly any crop about the management ef which
a greater diversity of opinions exisis than this —— whether we
regard soil, seed, or mode of planting and culture. The Brit-
ish Board of Agriculture, with a view to ascertain the best
mode of managing the potatoe crop, addressed a number of

"thie a teeta

4 Potatoes for Seed. 117
queries to the principal farmers in the kingdom, calculated to
elicit the facts necessary to determine this point. The circu-
lar and the answers were published ina large quarto volume,
together with the report of the committee charged with the
arrangement and publication of the facts. The statements
are so variant, that the committee were unable to recommend
any particular practice, as that which was most successful in
one case, proved defective in other cases. The only impor-
tant fact settled by the inquiry was, that potatoes differ very
materially, in some cases fifty per cent., in their nutritive
properties, a consideration as material for the stall as for the
table. Since the date of that publication, however, very nice
experiments have been made in Great Britain, particularly in
Scotland, and by Mr. Knight, and also in the United States.
From these we draw the following conclusions : >

1. That in this latitude the potatoe is better, both as to pro-
duce and flavor, when grown on a moist and cool, than when
grown on a warm and dry soil— better on a moderately loose
and friable, than on a hard and compact soil.

2. That they do better on a grass lay than on stubble —
and better with a long or unfermented manure, than with
short muck.

3. That medium sized whole tubers give a better crop than
sets of very large tubers.

4. That drills or rows should be adapted to the growth of
the tops, and the condition of the soil—the small growing
tops nearer, and those having larger tops farther apart — so
that the sun may not be excluded from the intervals; and
where the soil is stiff, or the sod tough, hills are considered
preferable to driils.

5. That if the ground be well prepared, and the seed well
covered, they are not benefited by heavy earthing ; and that
plowing among them, or earthing them, after they come in
bloom, is prejudicial.

118 Potatoes for Seed.

6. That the kinds best for the table, are also best for farm
stock, containing a larger portion of nutriment than inferior
kinds.

While upon this subject, we will mention that our friend,
Capt. Joab Centre, who some tome ago left plowing of the
deep for plowing of the glebe, has invented a potatoe plow,
which is said greatly to facilitate the gathering of the crop.
As soon as we become satisfied of its utility from our personal
knowledge, we intend to give a cut and description of it.

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