No. 105.] 521 



H. MEIGS ON THE DISEASE OF THE POTATO. 



You have done me the honor of requesting answers to four ques- 

 tions relative to the disease of the potato. In answer, I will state 

 my impressions as accurately as I can. 



Question first. — Were the potatoes in general attacked by a disease 

 which destroyed or impaired the substance of the root in any of the 

 years 1843, 1844, or 1845 1 



I reply that in each of these years the disease appeared in various 

 fields in the United States. In 1832 my potato field first exhibited 

 evidence of disease in the leaves and stems, which I have often seen 

 since. The leaves first curled up, presenting a grey color which 

 rapidly changed to a darker hue, and without frost or any known 

 cause, prematurely perished But the potatoes, although a smaller 

 crop than usual, did not show any disease. That summer was distin- 

 guished by the first visit of Asiatic cholera in the United States, It 

 ravaged this city taking off eight or ten thousand persons of all the 

 various ages, sexes and conditions. I then inclined to ascribe the 

 potato disease to the same evil influence, as we are very apt to select 

 always proximate causes. Since that time the disease has appeared 

 in Europe and America, in every variety of soil and climate, in moist 

 and in dry, lowland and upland situations, yet remarkably, in adja- 

 cent lands, appearing in one and not in another, very much as was 

 the appearance of Asiatic cholera. I therefore answer that I am at 

 a loss for any specific cause of this disease. 



Question second. — Did the potatoes, which were sound when dug, 

 remain sound, and were any means of averting the corruption of the 

 root, after it had been taken out of the ground, found effectual 1 



I reply, that it is established that the starch in potatoes is readily 

 extracted from those diseased as well as from the sound, and that this 

 is the only sure method of preserving the farina. But it is believed 

 that where the diseased potato is placed in contact w^ith lime, the dis- 

 ease is entirely arrested, so that on cooking the diseased potato which 

 has been limed, the diseased part readily separates from the sound 

 part. The experiments of Col. Edward Clark, of Brooklyn, in this 

 matter, are satisfactory to me. 



Question third. — Was it found that potatoes and other vegetables 

 or grains, planted in ground where diseased potatoes had been grown, 

 were attacked by the same disase ? 



I reply, that in fields where potatoes have been diseased in one 

 season, those sound ones selected from the diseased crop have been 

 planted in the same field, and have this year yielded sound potatoes. 

 And recently potatoes were exhibited by Mr. Lodge, a gardener of 

 Westchester, of as perfect a character as ever known. And that his 

 method is to till the soil with the most perfect care, making thorough 

 clean work of it, following Tull's theory of deep and constant tilling. 



As to the idea of the cause of this disease being telluric, when we 



