POTATO ROT. <* 673 



declares that t?ie "paltry reward" of $10,000 would be no 

 inducement to him to make known the cause and remedy of 

 the disease. 



Root, Charles, Battle Creek, Michigan, professes to have 

 found a remedy, and makes a proposal for its revelation. 



RoTiLOM, Jean, Chicago, Illinois, goes into the sublime, and 

 believes the disease is " caused by an atmospherical influence 

 of a planet," and " will gradually discontinue in the lapse of 

 five years," in 1856. 



RuGGLES, John, Duncansville, Pa., thinks the disease is 

 caused by an insect, which deposits its eggs in the blossom — 

 works its way to the roots, and attacks the potato. In culti- 

 vating, he selects dry land, overspread with rotten manure, and 

 plants cut potatoes. 



Trabue, E., and Sledge, John P., Oakland Farm, 3 miles 

 east of Nashville, Tennessee, recommend for manures, straw, 

 leaves, grass, or vegetable manures, and to avoid all strong 

 manures ; and for seed they recommend, contrary to the ex- 

 perience of all the best writers, the planting of small potatoes. 

 They also recommend frequently renewing the seed from the 

 ball. 



Smith, G. W., Glen Aubra, N. Y., thinks the disease has 

 been caused by a violation of the laws of nature in our mode 

 of cultivation. His plan is to leave in the ground over winter 

 that portion of the crop intended for seed, in the place where 

 they grew, taking away only the surplusage, or what remains, 

 in the spring, more than what is necessary for seed. This 

 experiment has been tried successfully four years. Mr. S. 

 grew his potatoes on a sandy, loam soil, under a high state of 

 cultivation, where the potatoes, kept in the ground for the next 

 year's crop, needed no extra covering to protect them from the 

 frost. In a more exposed situation he thinks it might be neces- 

 sary to cover the ground with chaff, straw, or other convenient 

 8.5 



