GO 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



POTATO ROT. 



Concluded from Pai^e 46. 



The important question "What is the cause of the 

 Potato Rot," is often asked, and to this question 

 no satisfactory answer has ever been given. Ever 

 since the prevalence of the disease, it has been our 

 opinion that the main cause is in the atmosphere. 

 We are aware that this answer, if correct, is indef- 

 inite, and it is unsatisfactory as it shows that the 

 cause is beyoiid our control, and it affords no clue 

 to a remedy. There may be a slight change in the 

 constitution of the atmosphere, or it may contain 

 some deleterious substance that affect certain vegeta- 

 bles. If fungus is the cause of the rot, the seeds 

 of the fungus float in the atmosphere, and are too 

 minute to be perceptible to the naked eye. 



The question is often asked, "Why are not ani- 

 mals diseased as well as the potato, if the cause is 

 atmospheric." A knowledge of the anatomy and 

 physiology of animals and plants, and the constitu- 

 ent elements of the atmosphere, shows the impropri- 

 ety of this question. The atmosphere may be 

 fraught with destruction to vegetation, and yet be 

 healthy to animals, and the reverse. In 1849, the 

 cholera prevailed to some extent in this country, 

 and the dysentery was very common and fatal, yet 

 there was bat very little potato rot. In 1850, the 

 potato rot was more severe than it was ever known 

 before, and the other diseases were no more preva- 

 lent than is generally the case. The very breath 

 exhaled by animals, which is destructive of animal 

 life, contains nutriment for vegetables, and the gas 

 evolved by the growing vegetables contains the 

 principles of vitality for animals. Hence the purity 

 of the atmosphere in elevated forests, and iu verdant 

 fields,ani the propriety of animals and vegetables liv- 

 ing together. The expiration of one is food for the 

 other. 



During the prevalence of the potato rot, other 

 vegetables, such as carrots,onions, turnips, &c., have 

 been affected with a blight also, and such as was 

 not known, and some have stated, previous to the 

 potato rot. 



There are other diseases that affect potatoes be- 

 sides the rot, and various insects also injure or des- 

 troy them, and these affections or injuries are gen- 

 erally all considered as the result of the potato rot. 

 In this respect a great mistake was made the last 

 season. Generally, previous to the rot, there was 

 a very severe case of the rust on potatoes, which 

 prevented their growth, so that in some cases there 

 were no tubers at all. This disease generally cut 

 short the crop of late planted potatoes, in this sec- 

 tion, one-half, and what were produced were infe- 

 rioi both in size and quality; so that if no rot had 

 prevailed last year, the crop of late planted pota- 

 toes would not have been worth more than one. third 

 of what it used to be in years past. We speak of 

 its value for consumption, not its price in the mar- 



ket. In addition to the loss by rust, the rot de- 

 stroyed most of the poor crop that was produced. 



Many years ago, we had severe cases of the rust, 

 and the consequence was a light crop of poor pota- 

 toes. We have known warm, muggy weather con- 

 tinue, with little interruption, for three weeks, and 

 one season, which was during the last war between 

 this country and England, the rye that was cut and 

 shocked, and that standing in the field, vegetated 

 and grew from one to two inches in length, look- 

 ing as flourishing as we ever saw any starting from 

 a fertile field; yet in those days there was no pota- 

 to rot like that of recent date, which shows that it 

 is a new disease, and that the state of the weather 

 is not the main cause, though a powerful predispos- 

 ing cause, having far more influence than any oth- 

 er, and perhaps as much effect as all other secon- 

 dary causes. 



We will now consider some of the most effectu- 

 al modes of preventing the rot. On this point we 

 shall be met by some persons who say that all 

 precautions are useless; that what avails in one 

 case, has no effect in another. They might as well 

 say that it is useless to take precautions against the 

 cholera, dysentery, small pox, or other disorders in 

 the human race, or using any medicines to mitigate 

 their malignity, because in some cases all precau 

 tions fail, and medicines have no effect. 



The first important lequisite in guarding against 

 the rot, is to cultivate those varieties that are gen- 

 really hardy and resist the disease, and which, in 

 severe cases of rot, are liable to less injury than 

 the tender kinds. In all cases of making improve- 

 ment in animals and vegetables, the cheapest and 

 most economical mode is to procure the best breeds 

 or varieties to propagate from. A single animal 

 that costs the farmer 50 dollars extra, may profit 

 him 50 dollars annually. An ear of corn, or head 

 of wheat, or some other valuable seed that costs 

 him only a few cents, in the beginning, may add to 

 the value of his crops many dollars annually. The 

 seed obtained may pay a thousand fold on the cost, 

 and the time spent in producing it 



If this valuable rule was applied to the raising of 

 potatoes, having particular reference to hardiness, 

 as well as other good properties, but making har- 

 diness the leading object, we should not hear so 

 much about the sad effects of the potato rot. In 

 common seasons of this disease, they would be only 

 slightly affected, and in the most severe cases the 

 greater part would escape destruction. We have 

 urged the importance of this course for years, but 

 some farmers have neglected it, and cultivated the 

 tenderest kinds, and the consecjuence has been the 

 occasional loss of nearly all the crop. 



We have cultivated 60 varieties of standard po- 

 tatoes, and 200 kinds of seedlings, and made nu- 

 merous experiments, year after year, to test their 

 hardiness. We have also learned from observing 

 the fields of others, and gathered facts from numer- 



