290 MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGftlCULTURE. 



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CHARCOAL— LIME— MARSH-MUD COMPOST— SALT 

 AND STABLE MANURE. 



To seduce you, gentle reader, into the perusal of what follows, we have eschewed the 

 stereotyped heading, " Potato Rot." We have, as you will bear witness, carefully avoid- 

 ed adding to the quantum suf. on that subject — for, in truth, what could we hope to say 

 new, or to discover, either preventive or curative, on a topic which had baffled the investi- 

 gations of such men as Kane, and Play fair, and Lindley, and Liehig ? and, yet more, which 

 had survived the original and erudite essays from the Patent-Office, comprising more than 

 100 pages of its famous Report ? 



We, however, conclude to give the following obsen-ations by Dr. Moonnan, the Consult- 

 ing Physician at that attractive and delightful summer resort for the recovery and preser%'a- 

 tion of good health, the White Sulphur Springs, in Greenbriar. 



We can speak for the Doctor's zeal as an amateur agriculturist, and, if it had been possi- 

 ble to accept his hospitable invitation to visit " Fancy Hill," could have been enabled the 

 better to judge how far his success as a practical farmer corresponds with his well-knovra 

 skill as a practicing physician. 

 John S. Skinner, Esq. Fancy Hill, V^irginia, Nov. 2, 1847. 



Dear Sir : Believing that any infonnation tending to throw light on the Potato Rot, or in 

 any way to mitigate its ravages, will be interesting to you, and may be beneficial to the 

 community, I take the liberty of stating a fact that has just come under my observation, and 

 which, so far as I know, has not been heretofore noticed. 



In the spring of the present year, I broke up and planted in potatoes an acre lot, which, 

 for several years, had been covered with a heavy gra.ss sod. Near the ceiitei- of this lot, a 

 coal-pit had been burnt about twenty years ago, and at this lime the ground wlieie it stood 

 is quite blackened with the coal-dust and small pieces of coal. ^Ve are just engaged in dig- 

 ging the potatoes in this ](3t, and find a very large pi-oportion, perhaps two-thirds, either par- 

 tially or entirely rotten, except those that grew on the aife of the old coal-pit; and tliere they 

 are unifonnly sound and healthy, and completely free from every indication ol ilisease. 



The ashes deposited in burning the pit must long since have lost their strength, and I am, 

 therefore, left to conclude that the preseiTation of the potatoes on the site of the pit was en- 

 tirely owing to the charcoal which was freely interspersed with the earth. 



We ought not to be hasty in forming a practical conclusion in Agricidture from a single 

 experiment, however satisfactory such experiment may have bee!i ; but I respectfully sug- 

 gest if the I'act I have observed may not be so far worthy the attention of the potalo-giowei's 

 in districts where the rot prevails, as to cause them to have coal-dust oi- pulverized coal put 

 in the hills or rows with the potato sets when they plant in the spring ? And, farther, if" it 

 would not be well to bury such potatoes as are threatened with tlie rot in charcoal, with the 

 view of preserving them for the use of stock during the winter and sjiring ? 



Very respectfully, Sir, your obedient servant, JOHN J. MOORMAN. 



p. gf. — Since writing the above, I have learned from my neighbor. Mr. Mofiilt, who, like 

 myself, has an old coal-pit in his potato patch, that he has found every potato that grew among 

 the coal perfectly sound and healthy, while those in the balance of the patch were so rotten 

 and worthless that he discontinued digging them after taking up a few bushels. j, j. m. 



Well awai-e that Mr. Colt, of Paterson, had made various experiments with different sub- 

 stances, the preceding letter was submitted to him, and has been returned with the follow- 

 ing remarks : 



My Dear Sir : I return you Mr. Moorman's letter. In 184G I tried charcoal-dust with 

 potatoes, and also anthracite ashes, and thought with success. This year I tried several 

 plans with my potato crop — some with charcoal, lime, and marsh-mud compost — some with 

 lime — some with salt — ^some on virgin land without any manure, and some with stable ma- 

 nure. All had the rot, more or less ; those planted early escaped best. Mercers were the 

 most affected — Fink-Eyes some — Black-Skins not much, and Scotch Grays but little. Even 

 potatoes raised from seed did not escape. I had some chocolate-colored Kidneys not affected 

 at all. The tliick-skin potato seems to escape the rot best ; and those early planted were 

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