94 QUAKTERLYJOURNAL. 



mistook for mould, but proved to be the castings of these destruc- 

 tive borers." 



The following is from the " Massachusetts Spy:" 



" In connection with all its stages, except its most advanced de- 

 cay, but more especially in its incipient attacks, are found maggots 

 or larv(Ej and other creatures which I shall call insects; and even 

 in the most decayed specimens, there are, apparently, traces of their 

 mischievous work. The larvae or worms average about a line in 

 length — are slender, with dark heads, semi-transparent bodies, and 

 are sluggish in their movements. 



" The insects are, some, invisible to the naked eye, others, a 

 mere visible white point — and others still, nearly a line in length, 

 with numerous short legs, long antennae, of a white color, extremely 

 active and shy." 



And this from the " Utica Daily Gazette :" 



" They bear the appearance of having been eaten out by an in- 

 sect, and in many cases I discovered a small green colored maggot 

 in the cavity. On scraping off the outer bark from the vine I dis- 

 covered that the leaflet buds had the appearance of having been 

 eaten out, leaving the holes through which I conjectured the insect 

 had passed. Those vines attached to a sound and ripe potatoe 

 were solid and partially green. Is it not possible, and highly 

 probable, that all this evil may thus be caused by an insect ?" 



These are a few, from the legion I have met with on this point. 

 But it is far more probable that the insects, worms, &c., are at- 

 tracted by the disease, than that they are the cause of it. When I 

 planted my potatoes last spring, as soon as the puces touched the 

 ground, I observed that they were covered with a little black in- 

 sect, which all hopped off suddenly w^hen disturbed. Perhaps 

 they deposited the egg to produce the disease. 



4. Honey-dev). I have noticed a great deal of late in agricul- 

 tural papers about this substance, but without finding out what it 

 is, and now it is lugged in to account for the potatoe disease. 

 This substance has been seen on the vines, and perhaps it caused 

 the tubers to rot. Well — perhaps it did. 



5. Improper care in keeping the tuber through the winter. 

 This is an imported opinion, and worth just about as much as 

 Yankee ones. It supposes that the tubers are stored in heaps and 

 thus become heated, producing weakness. But they have always 



