IS^© 



AND 



^^ERICAN HERD-BOOTi 



DEVOTED TO 

 AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND RURAL AND DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. 



Perfect Agriculture is the true foundation of all trade and industry. — Liebio. 



Vol. XII.— No. 1.] 



8th mo. (August) 14th, 1847. 



[Whole No. 151. 



PnStlSHED MONTHtY, 



BY J O S I A II T A T U M, 



EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, 



No. 50 North Fourth Street, 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Price one dollar per year.— Forconditions see lastpage. 



The Question of Breadstuffs— The De- 

 mand and the Supply. 



Extract of a letter to the Editor of Bick- 

 nelVs Reporter, dated 



Liverpool, July 3rii, 1847. 



For a month past the papers of England 

 and Ireland have teemed with contradictory 

 reports of the present and prospective re- 

 sults of the potatoes "set" this year; some 

 afSrming' that the disease which was so very 

 destructive last year, has reappeared, and 

 that, most likely, the same disastrous effects 

 will result from it; others stating in equally 

 as positive a tone that there is not the slight- 

 est ground to fear any evil to the present 

 planting of potatoes from the "aphis vasta- 

 tor" of Mr. Smee, or any other insect or 

 cause of disease — that the plants in every 

 section of the country look exceedingly 

 healthy, and from a thorough investigation, 

 in many parts of the land, they are induced 

 to believe that the disease will not appear 

 this year, or if it does, it will do but little 



Cab.— Vol. XIL— No. 1. 



injury. These reports may be traced to va- 

 rious causes. One set of newspapers is en- 

 deavouring to prepare the public mind for 

 what may be the truth — the total destruc- 

 tion of the plant — and the other, fearing the 

 present effect on breadstuffs and trade, en- 

 deavours to disguise the truth, or at least, to 

 lessen the evil, by denying at present the 

 appearance of the disease, and then, as the 

 summer advances, to hint remotely at the 

 likelihood of its again preying on the "un- 

 fortunate potatoe," as it is called by some. 

 So far, this has been the course with several 

 influential papers that I could name. A 

 month since the idea of disease was laughed 

 at, but the opinion is gradually gaining-, 

 ground that the potatoe is affected as it was 

 last year, and that the quantity destroyed 

 will be equally as great of this year's crop 

 as of last. Indeed the fact of the di-sease 

 cannot, with truth, be denied. Even the 

 new potatoes brought to market tell the 

 story too plainly — they appear much spotted 

 and eaten away, and when boiled have a 

 sweet and disagreeable taste, as well as 

 being dark in colour. The disease has, aa 

 I feel certain from my own observations, 

 made its appearance in a decided form, and 

 if I am able to form an opinion, it will be 

 more virulent this season than in any previ- 

 ous one, from the fact of its appearing in 

 June this year, and not until a much later 

 period in former years. 



As vast numbers of people in the United 

 States are interested in agriculture, it will 



(9) 



