88 The Potatoe Plague. 



labor ; for lime can be easily procured in any quarter ; for 

 dredging, a box with Dholes is all that is required, 



It appears to me, remarks another writer, that the disease 

 primarily attacks the stem, and I think the view I take of 

 the subject holds good in some cases, if not all. I maintain 

 that it is a disease of the fluids ; the descending sap becomes 

 poisoned by the generation of unwholesonie gasses in the 

 stem ; from the excessive moisture prevalent through this sea- 

 son, the proper exhalation of the plant has not been carried 

 on; thus we find that the stem undergoes decomposition, 

 instead of gradual decay, and this deteriorates the descending 

 sap, which, passing to the root, poisons, as it were, the tubers. 

 My own potatoes, which were planted on new ground, on a 

 very steep slope, are not in the least affected. Where they 

 were grown on higher ground, the tops died early, and the 

 tubers are as healthy as possible. Before the last rain I dug 

 about a rood both from the lower and the higher ground, 

 and all were equally sound. A few rows remained, which I 

 was prevented by the rain from digging up ; these I have 

 since gathered, and they have shown symptoms of disease ; 

 the tops were fine, but after the rain they were all matted 

 together. During their growth I never saw tops have a 

 more luxuriant appearance, clear and fresh, with nothing like 

 specks on the leaves or stems. Another thing which leads 

 me to consider the sap as poisoned, is the great rapidity with 

 which the tubers decay. They appear healthy to all out- 

 ward appearance ; still, in many cases, if they are kept sev- 

 eral days before they are stored away, the specks are mani- 

 fest ; first, of a dingy hue, then darker colored, and afterwards 

 becoming soft and rotten. If this really is the case, I do not 

 see of what use any of the methods as yet proposed can be. 

 Had the leaves or stems of my potatoes showed any signs of 

 specks, I would have pulled the stems out of the ground, leav- 

 ing the tubers a while before I dug them up ; this would have 



