THE GENESEE FARMER. 



271 



POTATOES. 



The following extracts from Mr. John Town- 

 let's pamphlet on the Potato Disease, though 

 written fifteen years ago, will be read with much 

 interest at the present time : 



BAISING POTATOES FOB SEED. 



*' Potatoes should be grown specially for sets, in 

 order that we may have the most healthy and vig- 

 orous plants which the variety cultivated is capable 

 of affording. A somewhat open, airy situation 

 should be selected for the seed-bed. If the land is 

 springy or not well-drained, adopt the lazy-bed 

 method of planting. If the land has been manured 

 for the previous crop, and is in good condition, 

 plant without manure; but if the land is not in 

 good heart, then apply, broadcast, in preference to 

 all other manures, partially decayed leaves or 

 where this is not to be had, use charcoal dust, or 

 charred peat, or a slight dressing of guano ; 'the 

 object being to promote a steady, healthy and vig- 

 orous, but not over-luxuriant growth. Plant the 

 tubers whole, not less than six inches deep, about 

 eight inches from each other in the rows, and let 

 the rows be about two feet apart. The same dis- 

 tance between the rows is of course not suitable 

 for all varieties — this must be regulated by the 

 planter's knowledge of the habits of the varieties 

 he cultivates. The point he should aim at is, to 

 have the whole of the ground covered by foliage 

 during the bright days of summer, but so that the 

 plants of one row shall not interfere with or shade 

 those of another. Plants grown for seed must 

 never be suffered to blossom. If a plant produces 

 many blossoms and seeds, it will be at the expense 

 of the tubers ; that is, the sap which would be ex- 

 pended in support of the flowers and fruit, would 

 contribute to the growth of the tubers if the 

 flowers were destroyed. But this is not my reason 

 for recommending this practice with plants grown 

 specially for sets. Many facts observed in various 

 kinds of plants, lead me to suspect that the pro- 

 duction of seeds has a peculiarly exhausting effect 

 on vitality, and I am much inclined to believe that 

 if ever the experiment is tried, it will be found 

 that a variety of potato which bears seeds abun- 

 dantly, will maintain its health and vigor for a 

 much longer period if the blossoms are annually 

 destroyed, than if it is permitted to ripen its seeds 

 each year." 



PLANTING THE MAIN CROP OF POTATOES. 



" The next inquiry is, when and how the main 

 jrop should be planted — what soils, situations and 

 Bodes of culture are best calculated to mitigate 

 ;he effects of the disease? In 1845 it was gener- 

 ally observed that potatoes grown on peaty or 

 noss soils were much less injured than in any other 

 cind of land. In the last season the difference 

 nay not have been so decided, still the reports 

 generally are much in favor of peaty soils, and 

 sonsidering the high price of comparatively good 

 )Otatoes, the occupiers of such lands will probably 

 ►e induced to plant them extensively. Clays and 

 leavy wet loams are known to be least favorable 

 the growth of the potato, and in these soils the 

 iisease appears to have been most virulent. But 

 he evidence respecting all soils is very contradic- 



tory, and the difference in the results observed was 

 probably owing, in many instances, to a difference 

 m situation, &c., rather than to any peculiar prop- 

 erty of the soil. ^ ^ 



" That a given variety of the potato may suffer 

 more trom the blight in one situation than in 

 another, is what might have been expected from 

 the facts previously stated in proof of the condi- 

 tions which favor the growth and increase of para- 

 sitic fungi. Many have observed that the disease 

 was first developed, or has been most destructive, 

 when the potatoes were growing under precisely 

 the same circumstances which predisposed wheat 

 plants to an attack of mildew. 



"Thus we read, 'the disease has been worst on 

 damp, low-laying soils, although well drained, 

 where the air could not circulate freely, by the 

 place being surrounded by trees or high hedges ' 

 'I have uniformly found that where the circulation 

 of air IS least, there the disease has been most se- 

 verely felt.' 'Most farmers agree that the disease 

 was most powerful in wet and confined situations. 

 Facts, however, incline me to attribute the preva- 

 lence of the disease in such situations to their con- 

 fined, rather than to their wet, character.' Then 

 again respecting the influence of an excess of ma- 

 nure: 'The disease has appeared most where the 

 land was naturally rich, or highly manured, and in 

 low situations.' ' The disease was most obvious at 

 first on the sites of dunghills.' 'Those portions 

 of the field on which the dung-heaps had been laid 

 were very much affected.' It is indeed a very 

 general observation, that those crops which had an 

 over-luxuriant growth of stems— the result chiefly 

 of high manuring— were most diseased. Next to 

 peaty soils, light loams in rather elevated or open 

 situations, should therefore be selected for the po- 

 tato crop, and much less than the usual quantity 

 of manure should be applied— if it would not be 

 much more advisable to manure the previous crop 

 instead, where practicable. It is probable that the 

 disease may be influenced to some extent by the 

 nature of the manure. Gross animal manures, 

 when applied in a considerable quantity, are well 

 known to produce in plants a tendency to decay. 

 On the other hand, partially decayed leaves, or 

 cliarred vegetable matter, are highly favorable to 

 healthy vegetation. Thus, on recently cleared 

 woodlands, or on newly-broken up grass land, po- 

 tato crops are generally abundant an« of good 

 quality. Since the publication, in Lielig^s Agti- 

 cuUiiral Chemistry, of Lucas's experiments on the 

 growth of plants in charcoal, it has been exten- 

 sively used in this country, and with considerable 

 benefit in the culture of green-house plants. The 

 interesting tribe of Orchids flourish on charred 

 blocks of wood ; and Mr. Ritees, in his experience 

 of the pot-culture of the rose, finds that charred 

 grassy tuft adds greatly to the health and free 

 flowering of his plants. Wherever such materials 

 as these can be abundantly and cheaply obtained, 

 there is little doubt they would contribute to the 

 healtli of the potato, and thereby tend to mitigate 

 the effects of the disease. 



"We may, also, by other means contribute to 

 the health of the plants, and promote a freer circu- 

 lation of air among them. I observed in the last 

 season that, in very many instances, potatoes were 

 grown in rows much too near each other. The 



