£ 97 ] 



poflibly happen in this way. It is well known that 

 potatoes affected with the curl, feldom produce 

 bulbsofafize nearly equal to thofe of the fame 

 kind that are found. This being the cafe, mould 

 one man, from among the heap of thofe potatoes 

 which were only in a fmall proportion affected 

 with the curl, felect only the fmall potatoes for 

 feed, and otherwife difpofe of the large ones, it is 

 obvious he mull thus preferve almoft the whole of 

 the curled fort for feed, and very few of the found; 

 and the potatoes railed from this feed muft of 

 courfe be much more infected with the curl, than 

 the parent potatoes were, from which the feeds 

 were obtained. 



On the other hand, mould another man pick out 

 from the fame parent ilock only the very largeft 

 bulbs he could find, he would probably have fcarcely 

 one curled plant in the whole field. Thus might 

 the feed from the fame heap prove to be, in one 

 field entirely (rcc from the infection, and in the 

 other altogether difeafed. Men are in general fo 

 carclefs in obferving facts of the nature here alluded 

 to, that we frequently meet with inexplicable phe- 

 nomena like what we have here fuppofed. But till 

 thefe particulars be fully inveftigated, it would feem 

 to be, from many confiderations, the fafeft plan to 

 felect only the largeft bulbs for plants: for as there 



is 



