234 



Potatoe Rot — Objections to various Tlieories. 



Vol. X. 



much so, indeed, as to lead scientific men 

 to attribute it to that cause alone. Now 

 how can these theories be reconciled? The 

 facts cause them to clash, and completely 

 demolish each other. We must throw them 

 both away, and look elsewhere for the truth. 

 Another article I have seen, attributes the 

 disease to frost. This theory is demolished 

 by the fact, that our farmers are aware tliat 

 the rot has commenced and continued during- 

 very hot weather. 



One of the best ways of testing these 

 theories is, by taking a marked and decisive 

 fact and comparing-the theory with it. Such 

 facts we have in abundance, and although I 

 might fill your interesting and useful sheet 

 with them, I will introduce but one. It is 

 the result of an experiment tried by a sci- 

 entific and observing farmer, and one who 

 is fully to be trusted in his assertions — I 

 have reference to Mr. R. L. Pell, of Ulster 

 county, N. Y. His own account of the ex- 

 periment may be found in the Report, page 

 241, of the Commissioner of Patents for 

 1844 ; and in my essay, in page 363, of the 

 last volume of the Cabinet. 



Here it will be seen, that whenever the 

 rows were treated with substances contain- 

 ing alkalies, the rot did not injure them, but 

 on the contrary the crops were very large ; 

 where the rows were left without alkalies, 

 the entire crop rotted. Now if the fungi 

 were the cmise of the disease, why did they 

 not attack all the field alike? If the disease 

 was caused by the cold, wet weather or frost, 

 why did entire rows escape, while those in 

 the immediate vicinity were entirely de- 

 stroyed? If hot weather caused the rot, 

 why were some of the rows exempt from 

 it, and those a few feet distant so completely 

 destroyed? It cannot be supposed that there 

 was a difl^erence of temperature in the dif- 

 ferent rows, sufficient to produce such a 

 marked effect. If the worms cause the dis- 

 ease, why did they confine their ravages to 

 those rows alone which were not treated 

 with the composition? If the bugs and flies 

 cause the disease, why did they not destroy 

 all indiscriminately? — their power would 

 seem to have been felt severely in some 

 parts of the field, but other parts totally es- 

 caped — why was this? If the disease was 

 caused by the potatoe losing part of its vital 

 power, how is it that in a field planted with 

 the same kind of potatoes, some rows were 

 entirely destroyed, and others entirely es- 

 caped ? It cannot be that, as some say, the 

 foreign varieties would escape the disease, 

 for here we see a foreign variety suffering 

 as much as the worst. It cannot be that 

 Bandy soils cause the disease, for here the 

 disease does not confine itself to the sandy 



soil, but shows itself in its most terrible 

 form in some rows, and in others immedi- 

 ately adjoining, the disease has not made its 

 appearance. Nor can it be that clayey soils 

 cause the disease, for it is here seen and 

 not seen indiscriminately, without reference 

 to the nature of the soil. The rot cannot 

 be caused by late planting, for early planted 

 also suffer: nor can it be caused by early 

 planting, for those planted late, are not ex- 

 empt from its destructive effects. 



Under these circumstances it appears to 

 me, that they who advocate these theories 

 have been thrown completely at fault by the 

 facts presented, and what is worse, the po- 

 tatoe growers who have placed confidence 

 in the advice given by the authors of these 

 theories, will find, I fear, that their confi- 

 dence has been misplaced, and the too pro- 

 bable result will be, that obloquy will fall 

 upon what is deridingly called "book farm- 

 ing." It is somewhat humiliating, too, that 

 although such failure will operate to the 

 disadvantage of "book farming," still, if 

 perchance the true cause of the evil be dis- 

 covered, and "book farming" renders that 

 service, few will there be to give it the 

 credit. Too much care cannot be taken 

 with this matter, and too blind a confidence 

 should not be placed in any opinion. Good 

 sense and scientific knowledge are much 

 needed, and in no instance is the want of 

 chemical knowledge among agriculturists 

 felt more sensibly than in the case before 

 us. 



Before closing this article, I must be al- 

 lowed to make a few remarks upon an appa- 

 rent objection which I have seen raised to 

 my theory. I saw in a newspaper, about 

 the middle of December last, an article 

 stating that, among other things, alkaline 

 solutions failed in stopping the rot after it 

 had commenced in a heap of potatoes. Al- 

 kaline solutions should not be too much de- 

 pended upon when the disease has become 

 deeply seated. The dry alkalies — and the 

 drier the better — should be applied in such 

 instances, and rather profusely. There is 

 an immense quantity of^ carbonic acid disen- 

 gaged in proportion to the size of the pota- 

 toe when decay is rapidly going on, and 

 therefore the alkali which is to neutralize it 

 should not be used with a sparing hand un- 

 der such circumstances; — hence the reason 

 why alkaline solutions failed in producing 

 the desired efl'ect; and from the same cause 

 many failures will occur in its use. The 

 quantity of ashes applied to a potatoe patch 

 must necessarily vary to suit many circum- 

 stances; among which may be mentioned, 

 the strength of the ashes, or their power of 

 producing strong lye — the season of the 



