484 Report on the Cultivation of Potatoes. 



appearance of disease, which kept well throughout, the diseased portion having' 

 entirely disappeared. 



" In all my experience with iiotatocs it has been a question of wet and 

 dry weather, and wet and dry land, in reference to the extent of the disease. 



" My experience has also been that most varieties of the potato become 

 deteriorated, and we always stand in need of new varieties to be successful. 

 The Paterson's is not nearly so prolific with me as it was four years ago." 



With regard to pulling up the tops immediately on the appear- 

 ance of disease, Mr. E. Tench, of Croes Newjdd, Wrexham, 

 sajs : " I have found upon two occasions that the pulling up 

 of the tops immediatehj upon the appearance of the disease, the 

 tubers being fit to be raised, has saved the crop. Last year it w^as 

 not so satisfactory, which I attribute to mj having left the 

 operation too long, owing to the scarcity of labour." The other 

 growers have either not tried this expedient, or have found no 

 advantage to arise from it. 



There is a general concurrence of opinion that the more 

 heavily the land is manured the larger is the crop, but the more 

 prevalent is the disease. As examples of the differences of 

 opinion that prevail in reference to the influence of manuring 

 or management on the potato-disease, I may quote again, on 

 the one side, Mr. Moreton, of Acton Hill, who remarks, " Potatoes 

 planted with artificial manure keep much better than when 

 planted with farmyard or horse-manure ; but we cannot get 

 more than half the crop from artificials." Mr. Robert considers 

 that the best plan is " to put the muck on the stubble, and 

 plough it in to mix with the soil." Mr. W. Sheffield, of Oak 

 Bank, Tattenhall, Chester, who makes the very remarkable return 

 for 1872 of a "very light crop but nearly all sound," states as 

 follows : — 



" I have not noticed any difference in the manuring of the laud ; but after 

 planting, and before the plant is up, I subsoil between the rows, and, after 

 earthing the plants up, I open the tops out nearly fiat, and fill in soil, which 

 shows like two rows, and prevents the rain-Avater running down the stem. 



The only difficulty is to deal with abundance of top. I find most 



potatoes diseased near the stem and nearest the surface, and stems that stand 

 straight up most liable to disease." 



Sir Watkin W. Wynn's gardener has been so good as to sup- 

 plement his replies to the queries, which referred to the farm 

 practice at Wynnstay, by the following statement of the experi- 

 ments in reference to the potato-disease made in Sir Watkin's 

 garden : — 



" Various experiments have been tried with lime, soot, sulphur, sea-sand, 

 laying down the haulm, and planting on raised beds and heaps. No per- 

 ceptible effect could be noticed with the outward applications, but the planting 

 amongst sea-sand had the best effect. The next best, the laying down the 

 tops. Not more than 5 per cent, is lost on the average from disease, as the- 

 crops are early planted and early raised — all being ' earlies ' and ' second 



