

1 -1 J_JMiJ^» 



tsit0x. 



CONDUCTED BY ISAAC HILL. 



"THOU! WHO LABOR IN THE E LRT3 AllE THE CHOSEN PEOPLE OF GoQ, IVH ' I1RBA3T9 HE HAS HADE in ■ PE< ' MAR DEFuSITE FOIt SUHST a MM AL AND OEIfUIIfS VIRTDE." — .f<J?< < ,*„. 



VOL. 10. NO. 7. 



BOSTON, MASS., JULY 31, 1843. 



WHOLE NO. 115. 



IJW.I iw ■li-ir.l rt't^tjj 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



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From the Genesee Farmer. 



The Potato Itot—-Its Cause and Remedy. 



In this communication I shall, I think, give to 

 1 tie world the true cause of the potato malady. 

 While; science has been on Ihe utmost stretch lo 

 find out ihe true cause, like all other excite- 

 ments, it has been too lofty in its researches, per- 

 haps, to give much credence, and loo great a 

 name to the splendid essays of those devoted to 

 tli. 1 performance of the tasvk. I expect that every 

 one who reads this article, (for I expect it lo he 

 published,) will come forward with their battal- 

 ion of a thousand and one queries, presuming 

 that will confound my position. But to the story. 

 The true cause of ihe potato malady is an insect. 

 What the exact form of the mother is I am as 

 yet unable to say. But one thing is certain, that 

 she lays her eggs in the latter part of June and 

 during tin.' month of July, sometimes even as 

 hue iis in August, particularly in late planted 

 fields, just under the surface of the ground near 

 the stalk. After a few days the egg hatches into 

 a worm of a peculiar form, about 3-luths of an 

 inch in length, of a yellowish brown color, not 

 unlike the worm found in meal chests, with a 

 head something like it, tapering from the head 

 back, with a spiral white ring passing from the 

 head to its terminations like a screw. The worm 

 when full grown is about an inch in length and 

 an eighth in diameter. 



Its form nf Attack and 'Effects. — Immediately 

 after hatching it begins to enter the stalk?, be- 

 neath the surface of the soil, to the centre, and 

 work upwards; the stalk immediately begins to 

 show signs of disease by turning black; ihe 

 leaves appear as if they had been scorched. The 

 tubers attached to those stalks tire till affected. 



The time of attack is when the tubers .are set- 

 ting, which is in the last ot July and first of Au- 

 gust in some sections, and during the. month of 

 August in others. Hence the reason why late 

 planted are more liable to disease than early; for 

 if planted early the tuber sets, and arrives some- 

 what to maturity before the season of attack. 

 Very rich soils are more liable that) poorer, from 

 the greater luxuriance of the plant, the same as 

 vines from the yellow bug, &c. This tit once 

 settles the question why newly produced are af- 

 fected as well us those of a greater age. 



All the objections which were unanswered h\ 

 the various theories heretofore given, are settled 

 by the discoveries of the past season in this 

 town. Could 1 sit down with every objector, 

 and while away an hour or two, I could tell him 

 more to convince him than I can on this sheet of 

 paper. It was by accident that a gentleman in 

 this town found the worm. While in a field ol 

 p.otatoes examining them, he found some of ihe 



appearance, while others were quite, hard, and 

 were greenish. He begun opening ihe soft one, 

 and discovered the worm, lie then dug down 

 around such stalks and found the tuhers,attached 

 were diseased, while those on the other stalks 

 were hard and sound. He gave the information 

 to many of his neighbors, who upon examina- 

 tion, found theirs the same. From thence the 

 research became general, and the results were 

 uniformly alike in every respect. 



Recently while conversing with a farmer from 

 another part of our country upon the subject, he 

 says he found such worms, or the worm chang- 

 ing into the larva? stale, on the surface under 

 the tops, when he was digging his potatoes; .and 

 that his are and were much affected this season. 

 This is the first time he has-been troubled with 

 tiie malady ; and he never planted so late as the 

 past season. 



The remedy is in early planting, the earlier the 

 better. My lather and myself planted the past 

 season before the middle of April, so that the 

 ground was frozen to the depth of two inches 

 after planting, (they want to be covered deep,) 

 and we have not raised so perfect and good po- 

 tatoes for quite a number of years; no disease 

 among them — mealy, hard and line. 



1 am confident the foregoing is the true cause 

 of the malady, the effect of which has caused so 

 much distress and death in many parts of the 

 world. To those who are yet incredulous as to 

 the cause, if they will give a few moments of 

 candid reflection they can readily answer every 

 objection, from this single fact — an insect con- 

 fines itself to no particular location, or age ol 

 plant, hut destroys wherever it willeth. 



E. S. BARTHOLOMEW. 



Portland, Char*. Co., K V , 1848. 



i mum- imTsr r - ^ - ; - — -- — -.^....*-- — r.. — 



inches deep, covering them with earth, in drills, 

 about eighteen inches apart, placing the tubers 

 about one foot asunder in the drills, and imme- 

 diately gave ihe whole surface acorn-ins; of straw 

 from three to four inches in thickness. The. 

 covering of straw prevented the growth of weeds 

 and superseded the necessity of cultivation. The 

 result was an excellent crop of sound potatoes, 

 so fai' as thei) were covered. Those left uncovered 

 suffered with the ro>. 



Had it not been for the last six words, said Mr. 

 Skinner, he would not have troubled the gentle- 

 men present by reading ibis extract — nor, but 

 for that, would Mr. Naill have made the commu- 

 nication — because it would have remained ques- 

 tionable whether the crop would not have been 

 sound without the covering! — and this he took to 

 he the sort of matter-of-fact, practical informa- 

 tion, which New York farmers and all other ag- 

 riculturists wanted, and which it would become 

 all agricultural clubs to send abroad, instead of 

 mere generalizations. — JV. Y. Farmer's Cluh. 



Book Farming. 



I have five or six acres of hind overrun with 

 jnhuswtirt, and being convinced it could not be 

 subdued by cultivation, ] esteemed it of but litlle 

 worth. I was directed by an agricultural paper 

 to sow one and a half bushels of plaster lo the 

 acre, two years in succession, and assured that 

 this would vuu it out. 



I procured a bushel of plaster, and sowed it 

 early in the spring. It brought in a thick coat 

 of white clover, ami lor three years past very lit- 

 tle of the weed has appeared. The extra feed 

 three times paid the cost of the plaster. Thus 

 raising the value of the land §15 or §30 per 

 acre. 



This weed grows on land adapted to plaster. 



Again — some part of my farm was so overrun 

 with the Canada thistle, it was deemed of little 

 worth. I found I could not subdue them by 

 cultivation ; and being directed by an agricultu- 

 ral journal to mow them when in full blossom, I 

 tried it on several small patches, and for five 

 years past have made a practice of going over 

 if whole farm, and have almost entirely exter- 

 minated the noxious weed from it. Thus raising 

 the value of my farm at least 20 per cent. 



Thus much fur hook farming, so much neg- 

 lected. — Vergennes Vermonier. 



REUBEN WHEELER. 



Profits of Farming. 



Timothy Either, of Burke, whose cheese has 

 long been known in Boston as the very best, 

 gives in the (Vermont) Caledonian, the following 

 account of the profits of his Dairy : 



"I milked 17 cows last summer: 14 new milch 

 cows, one 3 years old farrow heifer, and two 2 

 year olds; one coining into the dairy the 10th of 

 July, the other the Ilth of August. I do not 

 think them any better than 15 new milch cows 

 to come in in May. I made 3708 pounds of new 

 milk cheese. 

 Sold in Lowell and Charlestown, 3408 



pounds, at ]0£ cents per pound, 

 Sold 206 pounds of butter, 20 cents, 

 Sold 2 calves, for 

 Killed 4 veals, worth .93 each, 

 Kept over 7 calves, worth $4 each, 

 Kepi 300 pounds of cheese lor our own 



use, 9 cents, 

 Estimated that we used 250 pounds 



butter in the family, at 10 cents, 



Deduct for freight of 3014 pounds to 

 Lowell, $30; and 7 calves wintered, 

 $28; and butter and cheese lor our 

 own use, $75 50, 



$501 91 



133 50 



Straw for the Potato Rot. — Mr. Skinner 



read an interesting extract of a letter from lion. 

 D. W. Naill of Maryland. He would not have 

 occupied time by calling attention again to this 

 well-worn subject, had this extract not appeared 

 to possess that for which it had been his rule to 

 seek, through life, in all bis inquiries in relation 

 to Agriculture, viz : spec die and practical infor- 

 mal ion of importance. 'Ihe extract given, Stated 

 that a gentleman of Frederick county, Mil., last 

 spring procured some sound potatoes for plant- 

 ing, from Mr. Naill. Mr. N. had just been in- 

 formed by that gentleman that he manured and 

 stalks were hollow and soft, presenting a dark I prepared his land and planted the sets three to four 



$308 41 



Net sales from dairy $368 41 — average to each 

 cow $24 hi. If I had sold all my butter, cheese 

 and calves, the average would have been to each 

 cow $33 39. We used all the butter and cheese, 

 milk and cream, we wanted, from said cows, 

 through the season. 



Gave the cows no extra keeping summer or 

 winter. 



1 have had two hundred dollars in premiums 

 awarded on my cheese in Boston, within ten 

 yea IS, and laid it sold at auction in Qoincy Hall, 

 at from 15 to 20 cenls per pound, besides a num- 

 ber of premiums in this county." 



For his Uostnn premiums Mr. Fisher had the 

 best dairies in New England to compete with. 

 And now ihe best American cheese is supersed- 

 ing in the English market that of Holland. If 

 cheese-making, therefore, is a good business, 

 there is no reason why Vermont may not com- 

 mand ihe best prices the world affords. 



Mr. Fisher adds another particular in regard 

 lo his farming that strikes us as a little remarka- 

 ble, as follows : — 



"I reaped 3 acres of herds-grass, had 198 

 bushels seed, which sold in Boston at from $2 75 

 i.. 3 75 — amounting to 95 00 



Deduct for freight and commission, 57 50 



$547 50" 



