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that the potato rot has for many yeai-s been prevalent in Central Amer- 

 ica, where the potato is said to be indigenous; but it is confined to low, 

 damp situations, and hollows where rain-water collects after summer 

 showers ; and this is a strong proof that the acid which causes blight, is 

 frequently conveyed by rain. 



On this subject, hear the testimony of a practical man: Mr. David 

 Martin, of Morehead, Fifeshire, Scotland, thus writes to the Dundee 

 Courier. " I have not had a diseased potato for the last three years, by 

 adopting the following plan : I make my drills three feet apart, and as 

 soon as the stalks are formed, I bend them all to one side, and raise up 

 the earth well to them on the other, making a deep furrow so that the 

 rain is carried away from the roots. The potatoes grow out of the 

 sides of the drills, and in this position receive no injury from the rain 

 which falls during thunder storms." Mr. Martin also states that he op- 

 erated once on alternate drills, and whilst the potatoes raised by his new 

 plan, were perfectly sound and free from disease, those raised by the 

 usual method, were completely destroyed by the rot. These experi- 

 ments were made at a time when the rot was ravaging the potato fields 

 of Europe. Every grower of potatoes may derive a useful lesson from 

 these facts, and manage so to form his drills or hills, that water may 

 not enter about the roots of his potatoes. 



The rain which falls in the early part of the season, is of course of 

 very great benefit to the crop; no injury from rain need be apprehen- 

 ded before the latter end of July, and the beginning of August. 



Some writers attribute the failure of the potato to its propagation 

 from the luber instead of from the seed of the apple or berry. Un- 

 fortunately for their theory, many reasons can be adduced to controvert 

 it. It is well known that many plants and trees which bear seed, may 

 also be raised from cuttings ; the strawberry bears seed, yet is raised 

 from its runners ; the sugar cane bears seed — it is now propagated by 

 cuttings. It is quite clear that cultivation very much improves nearly 

 every kind of vegetable and plant. 



It is well to raise potatoes from the seed of the berry. In my essay 

 on the " Cultivation of the Potato," published in the Transactions of the 

 Michigan State Agricultural Society, for 1853, I have described the 

 most approved method of raising potatoes from the apple or berry. 

 Many new varieties may be originated in this way. Old kinds deterio- 



