106 APPENDIX. 



appeared here in 1845. The potatoes were planted 

 in the usual way by an experienced farm servant. 



" After weeding them in the end of May, I re- 

 newed my experiment by pinching off the points of 

 the branches of every second row, and repeated this 

 in the end of June. The result surpassed all ex- 

 pectations. The stalks of the plants not treated on 

 my plan were long, straggling, and sparingly fur- 

 nished with leaves, the leaves themselves small and 

 pale green. 



" In the next field, potatoes of the same variety 

 were planted on the same day, and left to nature. 

 They appeared in the first six weeks healthy, even 

 strong, but gradually acquired a poor aspect as the 

 time of flowering and fruit approached, and finally 

 exhibited precisely the same appearances as the 

 rows not treated by pinching off the extremities in 

 the field in which my experiments were made. 



" The harvest began in the surrounding fields in 

 the middle of August, and was very middling. The 

 tubers were throughout smaller than usual, very 

 scabby, and within these fields, to a small extent, 

 attacked by the wet rot. 



" In the end of August, the difference between 

 the rows treated by me and those not treated 

 became so striking that it astonished all the work- 

 people in the neighbourhood, who were never tired 

 of inquiring the cause. The stalks of the rows left 

 to themselves were all now partly dried, partly 



