No. 7. Large Hogs. — Observations on the Potatoe Disease. 



215 



at pasture, in some seasons, is owing to 

 this or some other species of fungus on the 

 grass. 



A belief has long existed in this coun- 

 try, and in most countries of Europe, that 

 wheat growing near to a barberry bush — 

 Barheris Vulgaris — is liable to blight or 

 mildew, and I have for years suspected, that 

 a fungus usually found on the barberry, ap- 

 pearing like a black speck on the smallest 

 branches, is the same that is found on the 

 wheat. It would give me much pleasure if 

 some person fond of microscopical observa- 

 tions, would examine it, and prove the truth 

 or falsity of my suspicion. 



If the foregoing views are correct, the 

 means of preventing mildew upon wheat, so 

 far as it can be prevented, will be those 

 that shall cause a healthful and vigorous 

 growth, of which suitable and sufficient ma- 

 nures, draining and culture, are the most 

 effective — and no land should be sown with- 

 out such culture and manure — for if a part 

 of the crop should become so weak as to be 

 mildewed early — then the sporiiles or seeds 

 thence derived, are always ready to be 

 placed in destructive activity, when the 

 other circumstances are favourable thereto. 



Alan W. Corson. 

 Montgomery co.. Pa., 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Large Hogs of the Chester Co. breed. 



To THE Editor, — In a letter received 

 from my friend John Worth, Jr., of Chester 

 County, he gives the following account of 

 the weight of four hogs recently slaugh- 

 tered, raised and fed by Moses S. Carpen- 

 ter, a neighbour of his : — 



The largest barrow, 653^ lbs. 



" second " 647^ 



" third " 523i 



" fourth (a sow) 465^ 



Total, 2290 lbs. 



They wanted six days of being twenty- 

 one months old. The sow has had two lit- 

 ters of pigs — the last of which were weaned 

 only twenty-four days before she was slaugh- 

 tered. Mr. Worth was not present at the 

 time of weighing them, but supposes it to 

 have been done correctly. He adds that he 

 had estimated their weight at 2300 lbs. 

 Respectfully, &c., Aaron Clement. 



Philadelphia. Jan. 28th, 1847. 



The above were certainly four noble grunters, and 

 had reason to be proud of themselves. Even in a 

 pen of sixty hogs lately killed by Isaac Woolston, the 

 steward of the Burlington County Poorhouse, in New 

 Jersey, they would have made themselves conspicu- 



ous. These sixty, as we learn from the Mount Holly 

 Mirror, weighed 24,131 lbs., making an average of 402 

 lbs. The largest weighed 542,— the smallest 304 lbs.— 

 Ed. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Observations on the rotatoe Disease. 



Mr. Editor, — I have already given you 

 some of the results of my observations on 

 the potatoe disease. I will now give you 

 others. 



You are aware that there are those who 

 hold, that the potatoe disease is caused by 

 the hot weather. I will make an eflbrt to 

 show what influence the heat has upon the 

 disease, and thus add another proof of the 

 truth of^ my theory. I noticed, this season, 

 after the disease had well commenced, when 

 we had a few very hot days, that the disease 

 progressed much faster, and threatened to 

 destroy every potatoe in this neighbourhood 

 that was exposed to it ; but afler a few days 

 the weather became cooler, and being some- 

 what dry, the disease was checked, and a 

 portion of the crop was saved. Now there 

 must be a cause for this, and I will attempt 

 to show that cause. 



In order that decay should progress, it is 

 necessary that a certain quantity of heat 

 and moisture should be present. The more 

 of these, the more rapid will be the decay. 

 The products of this decay are carbonic 

 acid, &,c. When the weather was very hot, 

 there was sufficient moisture in the ground 

 and in the air for the purposes of decay. 

 During the night the moisture in the air 

 would be precipitated in large quantities 

 upon the plants, and in the morning there 

 would be a heavy dew. These circum- 

 stances, then, being highly favourable for 

 rapid decay, all those plants which had al- 

 ready seeded, (and there were a host of 

 them,) and had commenced decaying, now 

 rotted very fast, and filled the air with car- 

 bonic acid gas. This supply so vitiated the 

 air, and rendered it so unwholesome, that a 

 large portion of our population became af- 

 flicted with fever and ague, bilious fever, 

 intermittent fever, and other diseases, so 

 much as to check, in a great degree, the 

 business operations of the community. Many 

 kinds of plants, also, suffered severely, but 

 particularly the potatoes — they rotted very 

 fast. Shortly after the weather became 

 cooler — a portion of the carbonic acid be- 

 came absorbed by the forest trees and other 

 living plants, and the conditions essential for 

 decay not being present in so large quanti- 

 ties, the decay progressed more slowly, 

 making the supply of carbonic acid not so 

 great. The beneficial effect was almost 

 immediately felt by the potatoes — thoy suf- 



