NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Col. Wilder remarked that the most scientific 

 men of Europe regarded fungus as a cause of the 

 disease. 



Hon. Seth Sprague, of Duxbury, Presideiil of 

 the Plymouth Agricultural Society, said tliat he 

 had planted potatoes on various soils, and they have 

 failed occasionally in all locations. He had ma- 

 nured variously, both in manner and in the quality 

 of the manure, but the effect was about the same. 

 Last Spring he planted on sword land, and spread 

 the manure, but there was a failure. He planted 

 a piece of light land, manured lightly with peat, 

 and they were not much rotten at digging, but they 

 decayed afterwards. His neighbors' crops tailed 

 als(». Various remedies had been tried, and some- 

 times they succeeded, again they failed. Gener- 

 ally potatoes do better when planted early, and dug 

 early. But they have sometimes failed under all 

 circumstances. He said that he had no knowledge 

 of the cause, or remedy for the disease, and he 

 did not believe that any body else had. 



Rev. Mr. Stetson, of Braintree, observed that in 

 1849, he ploughed an acre and a half of highland, 

 on a northern slope. He harrowed in the manure, 

 applied plaster, and planted the 23rd of April, and 

 obtained 210 bushels, and not a rotten potato. His 

 neighbor ploughed similar land, the same extent, 

 managed it the same, excepting he did not plant till 

 the 10th of May; and he had only 20 bushels. The 

 last spring he sowed 12 bushels of salt on the same 

 land, and planted potatoes, and they began to rot in 

 August. 



Friend J. M. ICarle, of Worcester, said that no 

 theory holds good as to this disease. Facts di.s- 

 prove all theories. Our very best potatoes are 



cussion animated and interesting. The large Hall 

 was well fdled with an attentive audience. 



The Com.mittee of Arrangement announced that 

 the next subject would be "Thorough Draining and 

 Subsoil Ploughing," and that it was expected that 

 ex-governor Lincoln would preside, and open the 

 discussion. 



POTATO ROT. 



We have been requested to publish what facts can 

 be obtained on this subject, with a view of aiding 

 the cultivator in guarding against the malady. The 

 present is a favorable opportunity to offer our views, 

 while a report of the discussion on this subject at 

 the State House is before our readers. In that 

 discussion no new facts were elicited, yet many im- 

 portant ones were stated and confirmed, the obser- 

 vance of which is important to success in culti- 

 vating this crop. Some theories were offered 

 vfith ability, that were more plausible tha.n correct; 

 and we were sorry to see attempts made to upset 

 well-established and highly important facts, merely 

 by exceptions to a general rule. In proceeding 

 with this .subject wo shall have occasion to refer to 

 that report, or views therein advanced. 



This disease is so well known that a description 

 of it is unnecessary. We believe that it first made 

 its appearance in this country in 1843. It then 

 prevailed to a considerable extent in the State of 

 New York, and in some sections with severity, par- 

 ticularly in the region about Utica. The disease 

 might prevail in other parts of the continent, but 

 vve have no account of it. In 1844, it was common 

 in nearly, or quite all parts of the country, where 



the potato was cultivated, and to a considerable ex- 

 brought, this se;ison, from the region of Lake Cham- j tent it was very severe, destroying nearly all the 

 plain, where the land is generally rather low, and crop, 

 the soil a clayey loavn. One man planted potatoes 

 late, and they did well, while his early planted 

 failed- 



Benjamin Flagg, Esq., of Worcester, planted 

 Early Hill potatoes, on high land, early in the sea- 

 son for the market. He manured in the hill with 

 compost. He dug some early and they were sound, 

 but some remained in the ground, after they ri- 

 pened, and they rotted. Last year he planted late, 

 and they rotted. 



Gen. Littleton, of Chicopee, remarked that this 

 subject was of vast importance to farmers, and they 

 were becoming discouraged. His gardener had 

 presented to the agricultural society, as fine pota- 

 toes as ever grew, and they did not rot till last sea- 

 son. He considered the cause atm.ospheric, and the 

 tops were first affected. In the State of New York, 

 he found a potatoe from the West, resembling the 

 Sand Lake, said to be hardy, but they had failed, 

 and all others, excepting the Early Foxes, from 

 Philadelphia, which had- done v\ ell, probably ow- 

 ing to their earliness. 



The meeting was unusually large, and the di^- 



This malady was prevalent in Europe about 

 twelve years before it appeared here, and it con- 

 tinued with great violence in that country for a 

 number of years after it visited this continent. So 

 great was the destruction of the })otato crop in 

 Europe, that in some districts, where it had 

 constituted the principal food of the inhabitants, 

 thousands of persons lost their lives by starvation, 

 and diseases consequent on scanty sustenance; and 

 a far greater destruction of life would have occurred, 

 but for charitable and liberal aid afforded by the in- 

 habitants of this country. Various diseases in tlie 

 potato had prevailed in Eurapc at different periods, 

 but whether any one was identical with this we can- 

 not say. 



As to the cause of the potato rot, there have been 

 many conjectures; and at first various, secondary or 

 predisposing causes, such as wet land, animal ma- 

 nures, warm wet weather, planting on old lands, 

 &c., &c., were by different observers regarded as 

 the principal cause, and those remedies which had 

 a partial effect, and in some cases seerned sufficient, 

 were at once regarded as completely effectual. 



