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5th. That the disease was experienced in Kent in the autumn of the 

 fine dry summer of 1844; and nearly destroyed the whole crop in a part 

 of the United States, in the midst of an intense and long-continued 

 drought. 



6th. That it had been experienced in St. Helena, an island within the 

 tropics, five or six years, and in North America three or four years in 

 succession ; I inquired if it was proved, or could be considered probable, 

 that precisely the same adverse weather had been experienced in so 

 many different countries so far apart, and this for the first time during 

 the two centuries, the plant had been in cultivation. 



Burns sings "facts are chiels that winna ding and dare na be dispu- 

 ted." These however Avere of no avail. The Royal Agricultural Society 

 endorsed the opinion of the Royal Commission, the malady was the 

 result of the cloudy and wet weather of the summer of 1845; but in the 

 following season, however, which was comparatively bright, the disease 

 was again developed ; every year, indeed, from its first introduction, it 

 has been experienced more or less, and in the last season, as I learn from 

 the press, and from private sources, it has been as virulent as ever in 

 England. 



Some have supposed that frost was the cause of the disease, as if it 

 had become icy cold in so many countries, especially in St. Helena and 

 Madeira. Thunder and lightning have been charged with this grave 

 offence, as if there had been no thunder for 200 years before. Guano 

 was condemned by many, as though the disease had only appeared where 

 guano was applied. Telegraph wires were shrewdly suspected of hav- 

 ing something to do with the mischief — a plausible explanation, seeing 

 that the appearance of the wires and the disease were nearly contempo- 

 raneous. With many, insects were considered to be the cause. A doc- 

 tor detected some aphides peculiar to the turnip, strolling over a potatoe 

 leaf, they tasted here and sipped there, but did not, as he remarked, sit 

 down quietly to their victuals, as when on the turnip plant. He stated 

 that they evidently preferred the turnip to the potatoe, said they had the 

 power of destroying both plants; and yet, in 1845, when the potatoe was 

 first extensively blighted, the turnip crop was so abundant and excellent 

 generally, that in many instances, turnips had to be sliced and put upon 

 the land as manure, for the want of stock to consume them ; yet despite 

 of this important fact, a costly volume was published, to make us believe 

 that the turnip aphis was the cause of the potatoe blight. 



