1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



485 



and such other matters considered and conclud- 

 ed as demanded attention, and the Farmers' Fes- 

 tival in North Middlesex closed for the year 

 1858. 



To-morrow commences their Horse Show, on 

 the fair grounds, to be continued two days. But 

 ■what means that wind, moaning through the 

 pines ! It comes from the sea, is raw, and filled 

 witTi chilly vapor! Who knows what terrible 

 pressure is driving it in, and whether it may not 

 fall in drenching torrents before the grand cav- 

 alcade shall assemble in the morning. It is near 

 the period when the sun enters one of the equi- 

 noctial points, you know, and we always have a 

 flurry in the elements about that time. We shall 

 see. Yours, very truly, SiMOX Brown. 



Joel Nourss, Esq., Boston. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 CROPS IN PRINCE EDWARD CO., C. W. 



Wheat is badly eaten by the weevils, so that 

 but little of the first quality can be found. Rye 

 is about an average crop. The last few years 

 this grain has been much more extensively sown 

 than wheat, which was formerly a staple crop, 

 but recently it is not considered reliable. This 

 is considered by some an evidence of poor farm- 

 ing, and not, perhaps, without good reason. At 

 any rate, land that once bore good crops of wheat 

 will not do it now under the same system of cul- 

 ture. Oats, barley and peas are good where the 

 land was not too wet in the spring. Such land, 

 however, was scarce here last spring, owing to 

 frequent and very heavy rains. Corn grows well 

 here, though less attention is paid to its cultiva- 

 tion than to other crops. The yield this year, 

 on suitable land, will be good. I planted the 

 "King Philip" variety, and in 88 days from plant- 

 ing I found some ripe enough to grow. The 

 hot weather of the first ten days of this month 

 was very favorable. Potatoes are rotting in some 

 locations, and the tops nearly all died the fii'st 

 week in this month, late planted ones dying as 

 early as others. This is considered by some a 

 sure indication of disease, and they predict a 

 general failure. It is to be hoped they are false 

 prophets. Early potatoes are very fine, and as 

 far as I can learn, are free from infection. Ap- 

 ples are almost a total failure. I think I never 

 saw so few. Plums are plenty in some places, 

 generally native varieties, such as the Blue and 

 the Green Gage, and a larger blue plum. 



I have referred to the failure of land to pro- 

 duce as well as it formerly did, and perhaps it 

 may not be out of place to mention what I be- 

 lieve to be a prime cause of deterioration, — that 

 is, a waste of manure. While riding by a good 

 farm a few weeks ago, after a heavy shower, I 

 nodced a large, black stream running from the 

 barnyard and depositing its treasures in the 

 sandy gutter of the highway, a distance of thirty 

 or forty rods, when by digging a ditch across the 

 road not more than four of five rods, it might 

 Slave been conducted into a beautiful field. Such 

 instances are too common. 



9 Mo. Voth, 1858. L. Varney. 



THE POTATO DISEASE. 



Last week we gave some illustrations of the 

 potato leaf and tuber, and of the insect preying 

 upon them, together with an account of Mr. 

 Henderson's discovery. We now place before 

 the reader the discovei'y of Mr. Reed, to which 

 we referred in that article. Mr. Reed has laid 

 before us a mass of evidences going to substan- 

 tiate what he states, but for which we cannot 

 find space. His statement is as follows : 



IMPOKTANT MICROSCOPIC DISCOVERT SHOWING THE 

 CAUSE PATENT GRANTED POR THE REMEDY. 



Messrs. Editors : — The miscroscopic exami- 

 nations which I have made of the potato plant, 

 during several summers past, has revealed facts of 

 vast importance to agriculturists, both in Amer- 

 ica and Europe. In 1845 the United States Pa- 

 tent Office published various communications, 

 letters, extracts, &c., upon the potato disease. 

 The first scientific examination in the United 

 States was made in the State of New York in 

 1844. The publication of this investigation in- 

 duced many persons in this country to form opin- 



I ions that fungi caused the disease. The same 

 opinion also prevailed in Europe. Atmospheric 



1 influence was another theory. Insects upon the 



I vines and leaves another. 



I My microscopic examination and experiments 

 commenced at Waltham, Mass., in 1851. In June 



I of that year, I found the under leaves on my po- 



Itato stalks turning yellow — some quite dead — 

 while the tops and leaves and also the leaves and 

 stalks of other hills continued quite thrifty and 

 green. This peculiar circumstance, thus early 



I in the season, induced close observation and 

 careful examination into the phenomenon. A 

 query naturally arose — can fungus or atmosphere 



i act thus partially upon the plant ? Is there not 

 some other predisposing cause prevailing ? From 

 this investigation I felt confident that insects or 

 worms had attacked these plants at the roots. 



Acting from this impression I examined the 

 roots, but with the natural vision no insects were 

 found. The microscope, however, revealed myr- 

 iads of insects on the seed tubers, roots and 

 stalks under ground. The attack upon the latter, 

 at the lower joint, was visible in spots or marks 

 resembling iron-rust. 



Potatoes which I had in jars and flower-pots 

 in my shed, covered from any exposure, (experi- 

 ment tubers) exhibited, under the microscope, 

 similar insects — and tubers taken from my cellar, 

 at this time, had insects on those which were 

 sprouted. Thus in three sepai^ate and entirely 

 dissimilar positions, insects, similar in every re- 

 spect, were found, evidently subsisting upon the 

 sap of the sprouts and vines. This revealed to 

 me unquestionable evidence, that, during the 

 early growth of 'the plant, insects' ravages pro- 

 duced deterioration by the draining of the sap 

 from the vital part — thus causing the disease. 

 The insects, being only microscopic, rendei'ed it 

 extremely difficult to discover the nidus or hiber- 

 nating spot of their eggs. 



Early in my researches, however, I became sat- 

 isfied, from the position of the j/om??^ insects, that 

 the eggs would be found near or under the eye- 

 brows of the potatoes. This proved to be cor- 



