648 POTATO ROT. 



is applied, it should be well mixed with an equal quantity of 

 stable manure, by " forking over" the same twice during the 

 month, immediately preceding the planting. 



King, S. B., Sutton. Thinks the cause atmospheric. South 

 winds with excessive heat overpowers the plant, which is 

 feeble for want of those substances which formerly gave 

 strength of resistance. This power to resist heat and cold he 

 thinks the exhausted state of the land of late years has failed 

 to supply. The use of wood ashes and oat straw, he thinks, 

 would, in a few years, furnish the requisite nourishment. 



Legg, William, Blackstone. Remedy. — After the potatoes 

 have grown as long as they will before the blast strikes the 

 vines, cut close to the ground all that are designed for planting 

 the next year, keeping and planting them separately from the 

 other potatoes. 



MoNTo, Louis, Boston, asks one or two questions. 



Morse, Aaron, Petersham. Cause. — Planting too closely — 

 leaving not sufficient space between the hills, the tops are 

 blown down by storms, and left to rot. Hence the remedy. 

 Plant in hills four or five feet asunder. 



Newell, Austin, Monson. Preventive. — Plant seed free 

 from disease, on land not wet. Change place and kind of soil 

 each year of planting. 



NicKERSON, Samuel, South Dennis, thinks the remedy, or 

 preventive, may be found in a free use of lime. He says — 

 " Last year (1850) my potato crops went by the board; they 

 were not dug, because they were not worth the labor. This 

 year (1851) I limed the land heavily on the surface while 

 planting the crop, and during its growth, kept the vines well 

 white-washed, frequently stirring the soil between the rows, 

 and the result was, that not more than a dozen rotten potatoes 

 were found in the whole." In 1851, Mr. N. again tried the 



