246 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



A letter was read, on the Culture of Mangel- Wur^el, 

 from Messrs. Hardy, of Maldon. 



The Council then adjourned to Wednesday, the 20th 

 March. 



Weekly Council, Wednesday, March 20, the Right 

 Hon. Lord Berners in the chair. 



The names of candidates for election were read. 



A letter from Mr. Williams, of Chester, inclosintr the 

 following extract from the Chester Courant, of the 19th 

 March, was read, in which the writer stated as the re- 

 sult of his ohservations in Anglesey, that those parts of 

 Potato fields where there are most weeds, such as Grass, 

 Chickweed, and the like, suffer least from the disease ; 

 that the haulm decays many weeks earlier than it used 

 to do before the disease came in, and the young tubers 

 thus deprived of their natural shelter from the sun may 

 profit by the protection given them by the weeds ; — 



Some weeks ago we published a letter on the Potato 

 disease which had appeared iu a Bristol paper. It set 

 forth that a Professor Bollman, in Eussia, had accidently 

 made the discovery, seven years ago, that the disease could 

 be prevented, and the produce greatly increased by dry- 

 ing — nay, almost roasting tlie seed Potatoes before plant- 

 ing ; and that the Professor had continued the practice 

 with the greatest success up to the present time. We ap- 

 pend to-day another letter from the same quarter, which 

 has been published in a Bristol newspaper, to which we 

 beg the attention of our agricultural readers. The philo- 

 sophy of it may be right, or it may be wrong ; and it 

 scarcely matters which, if the facts are borne out. It is 

 very easy for anyone to ascertain for himself how much 

 roasting a Potato will endure without destroying its vitality 

 as a seed-set. Eoast a dozen Potatoes, some more, some 

 less ; and, if you plant them iu a hot-bed, you will learn in 

 a very few days how far you may go with those that you 

 mean to try in the open ground. The trial is so easily 

 made, and the subject is of such incalculable importance, 

 that we hope many of our friends will try it, so that the 

 elFect may be ascertained under different circumstances 

 and in ditferent soils. We have reason to believe that the 

 Eoyal Agricultural Society will not be idle in this matter, 

 but wUl try to obtain information from Eussia in a more 

 satisfactory form than what has as yet reached us. 



The Eemedy for the Potato Disease. — In answer to 

 numerous letters "desiiing information as to the best time 



for kilu-drpng potatoes, and as the planting season of this 

 important esculent will soon be here, I beg to inform those 

 who are desirous of giving the experiment a fair trial, that, 

 according to the practice of Professor Bollman, the opera- 

 tion was performed as soon after digging-time as it hap- 

 pened to be convenient, and that the potatoes were dried 

 in single layers on a heated floor, the temperature of 

 which was gradually increased to the maximum of 140° 

 Fahrenheit. After being submitted altogether 24 hours to 

 this process, the tubers wiU be dry enough to be replaced 

 by a fresh supply, which of course will have to be repeated 

 until the whole stock of seed potatoes have been heated in 

 a similar manner. The seed may afterwards be stored in 

 sacks or bins, or disposed of in heaps on the floor of a dry 

 loft. For the convenience of cottagers and others whose 

 stock of seed potatoes may happen to be small, the com- 

 mon oven wiU answer the same purpose. It is now a yell- 

 established fact in vegetable physiology that tuberous- 

 rooted plants especially perform the functions of suction 

 after the stalks have died away, and the roots to outward 

 appearance are fully ripe. In the case of late potatoes, 

 therefore, the deposition of the organic matter cannot 

 be reckoned to begin until the first week in November, 

 and as this most important process in most vegetable 

 structures is not completed until the end of January, we 

 may safely determine the latter period to be the best time 

 for kiln-drj'ing the potatoes. Again, early potatoes should 

 be dried in the same way any time between the middle and 

 end of October. Let the process be carried out according 

 to the rules here laid down, and the manner of the opera- 

 tion will be found to be in harmony with the revelations of 

 botanical science. Besides, the cultivator should never 

 lose sight of the fact that the potato loses nothing but 

 moisture by drying, and seeds are not considered sale- 

 able until carefully dried. One of the causes of the 

 disease is thus removed before planting. It often happens 

 that seed potatoes have to be spritted at least once before 

 planting, an operation which afterwards greatly im- 

 poverisbes the crop. 



A collection of agricultural implements, manufac- 

 tured in Montreal, many of which appear to be of ex- 

 cellent construction and remarkably cheap, was pre- 

 sented by His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, Secretary 

 of State for the Colonies, by whom they had been 

 brought home from Canada. 



The Council then adjourned over Passion and 

 Easter weeks to the monthly meeting on the 10th of 

 April. 



WHAT IS TO BE DONE WITH THE THIN WINTER CROPS? 



Perhaps we have never had such a number of thin 

 and defective winter crops, within the memory of the 

 oldest farmer, as in the present winter. Wheats on all 

 heavy lands are very patchy and backward, in many 

 cases far too thin of plant, and in others nearly devoid 

 of plant altogether. On the lighter soils for the most 

 part they look rather promising, although backward. 

 Tares are also very defective in plant, and what of them 

 can be seen look very brown and unhealthy. Turnip- 

 need crops, owing to an abundant covering of snow, 

 have escaped far better than could have been expected ; 

 still they look unpromising. Winter beans do not ex- 

 hibit any favourable prospect, and the breadth sown is 

 limited, owing to the past late season. Rye, from the 

 like cause, is a limited crop, and not a very hopeful one. 

 Cabbages for early spring setting are in a better state, 

 but require much attention in planting ; they are 

 stunted in growth and very short in stalk, so that a very 

 sraall hole will suffice for their reception. Lucerne, 

 sainfoin seeds, and clovers have escaped exceedingly 

 •well, and will require no further remark than this : the 

 seed and clovers should on light lands be rolled at a 

 suitable time, so as to compress the soil so much loosened 



by the frost, and fasten the plant. I think the above 

 are the principal winter crops to which it is desirable to 

 advert. 



The thin Wheat Crops. — I am afraid these thin crops 

 are very numerous in almost every district. On strong 

 loams, clays, and badly-drained lands, they are general ; 

 the exception being a fair plant, of which very few are 

 to be found. What, then, is to be done with these de- 

 fective crops ? It is difficult to say. The experience 

 and judgment of the farmer, aided by the best advice he 

 can command, will be the safest guide. No one can say 

 what course ought to be pursued in any case, except upon 

 actual inspection, and carefully weighing the respective 

 changes of ultimate benefit from any suggested proce- 

 dure. I can merely give some outlines or suggestions 

 by which to guide to a decision. Take the wheat crop : 

 If the plant is thin and backward, but distributed with 

 tolerable regularity over the field, I should say let it 

 stand by all means, and take the earliest opportunity to 

 improve it, and in this way : If the land is fertile or in 

 high condition, let the crop be eaten off with sheep, the 

 larger the flock the better, and well trodden down in 

 the shortest time possible, when the land is dry and the 



