February 23, 1H75. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



157 



that is snrely the place to grow them. The bulbs have pro- 

 daoed beautiful spikes of flower and splendid large green 

 leaves, while the roots have made their way through the moss 

 at least 3 inches, and which cannot be less than 10 inches 

 from the bulbs. Evidently thoy are now receiving support 

 from the moisture of the house. Now, I think this basket 

 filled in this manner would do very well for hanging in roums, 

 with a few small Ferns planted inside of the rim, which is 

 circular, to hang over, and a glass saucer or other kind sus- 

 pended under the basket to hold the water, and which would 

 at the same time supply the roots with moisture. — William 

 Laueie, Gardt-'uer, Li/nnu-ood. 



NOTES EELATIVE TO THE POTATO. 



Is the olden times before the discovery of the art of print- 

 ing, to be able to read and write — a scholar in fact — was to be 

 subject to suspicion and contempt — suspicion of dark dealings 

 with those mysterious powers which dwell in the cloud that 

 always envelopes dull ignorance. But while we smile at such 

 folly it should not be forgotten that we too are not altogether 

 without our failings — failings which lead to the adoption of 

 theories that are unsound, and pursuits which often prove 

 vain. One such, and in the pursuit of which cousiderable 

 ardour has been manifested, is a blight-proof Potato, another 

 is a cure for the Potato blight, both of which are perfectly un- 

 attainable, as was clearly set forth in the Journal about a 

 year ago. 



The futility of the trials of so-oalled blight-proof Potatoes 

 which were then about to be undertaken under ihe auspices of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society was strongly insisted upon ; the 

 result of those trials fully demonstrated the truth of assertions 

 not lightly made, and based upon close observation and sound 

 practical experience. The search for a blight-proof Potato has 

 been abandoned, but researches are still going on which can 

 answer no practical purpose, and can only serve to throw some 

 light upon the action of certsin natural phenomena, which, 

 however interesting to philosophic minds, is a matter alto- 

 gether wide of the important question, How shall we obtain a 

 full crop of sound Potatoes ? 



That the Potato disease is caused by excessive moisture in 

 the soil, or to put it more plainly, by the showers that gene- 

 rally occur sooner or later after the growth of the tubers has 

 ceased and the process of ripening begins, is an incontrover- 

 tible fact long ago recognised by practical men. In many 

 instances this knowledge has induced those who were able to 

 grasp its full significance to strive to bring the crop into a 

 suitable condition for lifting before the recurrence of the 

 evil. Why a measure so simple iu itself and so thoroughly 

 efficacious has not sooner obtained a full and general adoption 

 is owing, I think, to ignorance of the nature of the Potato 

 itself. 



Now, a Potato tuber possesses such astonishing vitality that 

 it will not only make a strong growth , but will also yield young 

 tubers, very small it must be granted, but of perfect form and 

 with the organs of reproduction perfectly developed without 

 any extraneous assistance other than is afforded by atmo- 

 spheric moisture. This fact is undoubtedly of little value in 

 itself, but is sufficiently remarkable to lead one to inquire if 

 the economy of the Potato was capable of nothing more than 

 this, for the phenomenon which I have described is in reality 

 precisely similar to th)t which takes place in a living plant. 

 For example, a Grape Vine will produce strong shoots clothed 

 with foliage and bearing incipient fruit bunches entirely from 

 stored np sap without any ass-istance from its roots. Nor does 

 the analogy cease here, for both Potato and Grape Vine fail to 

 make further progress without the assistance of new roots fed 

 by a nutritious soil. 



By careful examination it was found that immediately after 

 a tuber had ceased to grow it might be separated from the 

 haulm, without any interference with the process of ripening or 

 deterioration in quality. The only blemish is in the some- 

 what unsightly and ragged appearance of the skin, which be- 

 comes broken from contact with others when taken up in its 

 immature condition. 



The action of Nature to remedy this rubbing of the skin is 

 wonderfully prompt, a fresh skin of considerable thickness 

 being formed within twenty-four hours after the storing of the 

 Potatoes. Here is a question involving other questions for 

 physiologists. One can understand something of how a ripen- 

 ing process can take place by oxidation, and by the combina- 

 tion of crude matter to form the starch or mealy substance so 



much appreciated in a good Potato after the tubers are taken 

 up, just as of Apples and Pears after they are gathered form 



sugar. 



It has been well said that " Nature knows no limits in her 

 great laboratory, having combinations to play upon such as we 

 are only just beginning to understand," and I should be glad 

 to know more of her action iu this instance. How is tho 

 second skin formed ;' Of course the substance is derived from 

 the juices of the tuber: am I to suppose, then, that the juice 

 which flows from the wound becomes hardened and converted 

 into a substance resembling the skin by the action of the air ? 

 Or is there circulation, or rather a movement of its juices 

 among its tissues, taking place after it is separated from the 

 haulm ? It may be said that the fact of the subsequent ripen- 

 ing process would imply somtthmg of the kind. Ripening, how- 

 ever, is simply one, or a series of chemical changes. Many 

 fruits ripen after they are gathered, Lint if the skin sustains 

 any damage decay invariably follows. 



There are one or two other matters connected with this part 

 of the subject concerning which I am somewhat iu the dark, 

 and which I will also propound iu the form of questions, in 

 the hope that those who poseess the advantage of greater 

 experience or ability may be able to enlighten me. The first 

 question which I will ask is this — Is the blight infectious? 

 That is to say, if we put a diseased tuber among others that 

 are sound are they likely to become affected ? Judging from 

 my own experience I should certainly answer. Yes. 



Then, if a crop is taken-up in showery weather and stored 

 in a somewhat damp condition, are the tubers more liable 

 to suffer from bhght after they are stored than if they had 

 had the advantage of a dry sunny day ; or are they at all 

 susceptible of blight after the storing ? Here again I am 

 constrained to answer, Yes. But then there remains an im- 

 pression that those tubers which apparently have failed from 

 either of such causes had in reality become tainted before 

 they were separated from the haulm, and if so all subsequent 

 care would be quite useless. 



These matters are, I think, of the very greatest importance. 

 Believing as I do that the blight is incurable, and that it is 

 only to be met successfully by timely culture and by taking- 

 up and storing the crop whUe it is sound, anything affecting 

 the measures taken to that end for good or evil merits the 

 closest inquiry and attention. 



An inquiry into the history of the Potato and its culture 

 reveals the fast that our knowledge of the subject is very little 

 in advance of what was known forty years ago. New and im- 

 proved sorts were then sought after with an avidity quite 

 equal to that of the present time ; nor was there less ability 

 and intelligence displayed in the raising of new kinds from 

 seed, the necessity for doing so being understood as perfectly 

 then as now. A writer in the " Quarterly Journal of Agricul- 

 ture," in stating his reasons for raising seedling Potatoes in 

 183ii, says — " The Potato, in common with all other cultivated 

 productions of the vegetable world, has a tendency to degene- 

 rate in proportion as tho means to prevent its doing so have 

 been neglected. Nature, however, has provided for the per- 

 manent health as well as the productiveness of her offspring 

 in the seed contained in the berry which the plant produces 

 from its stalks." In little more than another decade — that is to 

 say iu 1846, the year of the great blight, we find that the evil 

 of excessive moisture and heavy retentive soil were as clearly 

 understood as they are now. In an interesting account of the 

 blight and its effects in the seventh volume of Allison's 

 " History of Europe," it is stated that " the disease was much 

 more violent in the western parts of Great Britain than in the 

 eastern, and in rich and highly cultivated localities than La 

 those more recently brought into cultivation, or where the 

 soil was poor. From Aberdeen to Inverness, where the soil 

 was in general sandy or gravelly and a great part of it had 

 been newly brought into cultivation, the disease was unknown; 

 but in the west Highlands, abreast of this district, it was all 

 but universal, and had almost totally destroyed the crops." 

 This statement will be doubly significant to those who are 

 aware of tho considerable excess of the rainfall in the western 

 districts to that in the eastern. 



In giving this quotation from Allison I do not, of course, in- 

 tend to infer that a poor soil is at all preferable to a rich one 

 for Potato culture ; that would be simply absurd. The rich 

 alluvial soil iu the neighbourhood of Peterborough and Wis- 

 beach is most wisely devoted to the growth of Potatoes, be- 

 cause it is in that district that the rainfall sinks to a mini- 

 mum, and the natural conditions are therefore precisely those 



