34 Diseases of the Potatoe. 



the evil merely by sending to another place for seed potatoes ; 

 we should renew them from the balls. This is a process 

 requiring some patience, but we know of no easier method of 

 entire renovation. We suppose renewal can be approached 

 in successive plantings of unmatured potatoes. These have 

 often been strongly recommended for seed, not only for the 

 purpose of avoiding disease, but as a means of increasing the 

 crop. It is manifestly contrary to what we regard as a gen- 

 eral law in vegetation, that the most perfect seed produces 

 the healthiest and most fruitful plants. There are, however, 

 several reasons for believing that the potatoe may be an ex- 

 ception to the general law. The vegetative principle is not 

 so concentrated in the potatoe as in most other articles. It 

 can be produced from the balls, the bulbs, or from sprouts 

 which hate grown in the cellar, or the earth. The vegeta- 

 tive principle being so widely diffused, it may be reasonable 

 to suppose, that the perfect ripening of the potatoe to some 

 extent weakens its power of reproduction. That power after 

 the complete maturity of the bulbs may be more perfectly 

 concentrated in the balls. The experiment is easily made, 

 and it is hoped that many fanners will this year plant pota- 

 toes for the next year's seeding as late as the 25th of June." 



