STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 153 



Office for 1848, pp. 274-338; 1849, pp 423-424; 1855, pp. 268- 

 277. But the universally conceded analogy of the plant, and 

 its culture, to Indian corn, and the uniformity of the general 

 laws of vegetable pathology, combined with the clear statements 

 of the circumstances of disease, make it quite safe to draw con- 

 clusions in regard to the causes of the disease. 



I find no very minute statement of diseased manifestations, 

 and of the soil, culture or weather in connection wdth which 

 these manifestations have been observed. The few statements 

 which I do find, are all so analogous to numerous very common 

 facts in vegetable diseases, that I was led at once, when first they 

 came to my knowledge, some five or six years since, to feel that 

 the causes of the disease were obvious. 



In the investigation of this subject I shall follow nearly the 

 same course of inquiry as the one just passed through with 

 respect to the grape. 



CAUSES OF DISEASE. 



1. Soil. — a. As chemically considered. — Concurrent testimony 

 shows that the analogies of this plant are very close with Indian 

 corn, in structure, both internal and external, deposition of saccha- 

 rine matter, and climatic requirements. The main difference is, 

 that it requires a higher temperature and a longer season for ma- 

 turity than the latter. From the Transactions of the New- York 

 State Agricultural Society, of 1848, I take the following tables 

 relative to the mineral elements of Indian corn, page 819. The 

 fodder and the grain, after the former is dry enough to stack and 

 the latter to crib, contain not far from 15 per cent, of v/ater and 

 85 per cent, of dry matter. After subtracting the water, every 

 100 lbs. of the dry matter contain about from 4 J to 5.\ lbs. of 

 ash, and each ton contains from 90 to 110 lbs. of inorganic 

 matter. The following table represents approximately the pro- 

 portion of the several bodies in 100 lbs. of ash which is about 

 the ordinary amount removed by a ton. 



Silicic acid, 41.209 



Phosphoric acid, 7.903 



Phosphate of iron, lime and magnesia, 9.256 



Putash, 12.709 



