No. 6. 



Potatoe Disease. 



177 



paring them, with the " shellac solution," — 

 the best thing I have ever tried — recom- 

 mended on page 32, of the " Fruits and 

 Fruit Trees of America." 



I then dug a trench four feet wide around 

 the whole ball of roots, very much as if I 

 were going to transplant it. I left a ball of 

 roots untouched, about six feet in diameter. 

 The roots — all the roots, large or small — 

 that extended beyond this ball, I cut off; 

 and I should judge that I cut oft' about one- 

 third of the roots; or, as you advised me, 

 about an equal proportion to the branches 

 reduced. 



The trench itself, which was four feet 

 wide, I dug twenty inches deep; and carted 

 away all the old soil from it to another part 

 of my garden. I next carted in an equal 

 quantity of soil from a field of good pasture, 

 where the sod had "not been broken up for 

 several years. I drew this earth, composed 

 pretty largely of the sod itself, and filled 

 the trench around both trees. 



To each tree I then applied the following 

 substances, viz., two bushels of refuse or 

 scorijB from a blacksmith's forge, two bush- 

 els of charcoal pretty well broken, and two 

 pounds of potash well pulverized. These 

 substances I had on the spot, and mingled 

 them with the fresh soil as it was put in the 

 trench. After the trench was full of soil 

 containing these stimulants, I had the whole 

 of its contents thoroughly intermixed, by 

 turning them over and over again with the 

 spade. This is the whole of the process. 

 Now a word about the results. 



The first summer after the trees had been 

 operated upon — that of 1844 — I was sur- 

 prised and delighted with the luxuriance 

 and vigor of the new growth. It was very 

 healthy, and had the appearance of that of 

 a very fine young tree. Suffice it to say, 

 the tree had formed a new and handsome 

 head. 



Next season, 1845, it blossomed mode- 

 rately. But almost every blossom set, and 

 gave me a fruit. Every fruit, to my great 

 joy and satisfaction, was large, fair and 

 smooth ; the growth was clean and healthy, 

 and the leaves dark green in colour. 



This year I have had a fine crop: two 

 bushels from one tree, four bushels from the 

 other. They were superb fruit — genuine, 

 oldfashioned Virgalieus; and I cannot doubt 

 that my trees will continue to bear such for 

 many years. 



I need not say, that I and many others 

 are convinced by this experiment, that the 

 pear tree, of many sorts in my neighbour- 

 hood, have failed from a want of proper sus- 

 tenance in the soil. Whether the recipe 

 you gave me, may be improved upon or not, 



I cannot say; but I can say, that, so far, it 

 has answered perfectly ; and it is my belief 

 that every old and enfeebled pear tree that 

 bears cracked fruit, may be restored to good 

 health and a fine bearing condition, by fol- 

 lowing the same rules. J. B. \V. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Potatoe Disease. 



A GREAT deal has been said about the dis- 

 ease of the potatoe, and many have been 

 the conjectures concerning the cause, and 

 various the remedies proposed, all of which 

 prove abortive at times, owing to the differ- 

 ent circumstances under which the remedies 

 are applied. 



If we knew exactly the cause, it might 

 not always be in our power to apply the 

 remedy, because the season, over which we 

 have no control, influences the potatoe to a 

 great extent. In the observations that I 

 have been able to make, it appears that the 

 disease is produced by one main cause, and 

 various contingencies may induce that cause. 

 The grand cause of which I speak, seems 

 to be the rupture of the sap vessels. The 

 many things that contribute to bring this 

 about, are rich soil, heat, moisture, dark co- 

 lour in the soil, and anything else that aids 

 the growth of the plant, especially if that 

 growth cannot be kept uniform ; for it may 

 be after all, sudden expansions and contrac- 

 tions that cause the rupture of the vessels. 



Well does Chemico say, that large heavy 

 tops imbibe certain elements destructive to 

 the potatoe. It must have been observed by 

 all, that low situations are the least calcu- 

 lated to produce sound potatoes, owing to 

 the great variety of temperature ; the val- 

 leys being warmer than the hills when the 

 sun shines, but colder at night. 



Have potatoes ever rotted that were grown 

 on high ground, thin light coloured soil, in a 

 cool dry season 1 if they have when properly 

 taken care of, I will give the question up. 

 In the spring of 1845, I planted a small lot 

 of potatoes very early; in a few days they 

 were up and looked well; — a frost killed 

 them to the ground — they grew again — 

 were cut down — and a third time were cut 

 down by frost. By this time vitality was 

 nearly exhausted, and the next growth was 

 very weak and small, not half the usual size, 

 and they continued dwarfish all the season; 

 the produce was only tolerable, but there was 

 not the least symptom of disease about the 

 potatoes; though most of the circumstances 

 by which they were surrounded were unfa- 

 vourable. Any ingredient that tends to re- 

 tard decomposition in the soil, would, no 



