50 [Assembly 



confessed by epicures to be unsurpassed by any dish; which opinion 

 ■was heartijy coincided in by George the Third, surnamed the Royal 

 Farmer, who held this joint and its adjuncts in high estimation. 



The potato is now considered one of the most important produc- 

 tions of the earth: upwards of one hundred millions of bushels having 

 been raised in the United States in a single year. 'Much controversy 

 and speculation have recently taken place relative to the alleged dis- 

 ease of this esculent, and many a ridiculous conclusion has been drawn 

 by writers on this subject, some of whom seem to have lost sight of 

 the difference between cause and effect. Rottenness is the effect of 

 deterioration produced by the absence of a living principle. In a 

 certain stage of growth, cherries, after a single week's rain, will rot 

 on the tree. Such, also, is the case with other fruits. It is well 

 known that grapes, gooseberries, currants, melons, &c., in some un- 

 favorable seasons and situations, often prove a failure. Indeed, it 

 would be difficult to name any production of the .earth that yields full 

 and perfect crops annually; on the contrary, it is well known that 

 famine has been of frequent occurrence in populous countries, through 

 short or defective ciops of the necessaries of life. We read in the 

 Old Testament of one famine which lasted seven years. Why, then, 

 I would ask, should we expect uniformly good potato crops twice 

 in every year? Having devoted much attention to the nature of 

 plants in general, I have come to the conclusion that the alleged dis- 

 ease in this esculent is not caused . by defective seed, but that it is 

 generally the effect of variableness of the weather, and of one ex- 

 treme of temperature suddenly following another. In some instances 

 the defect may have been occasioned by the injudicious use of acrid 

 manure, which is destructive to all descriptions of succulent plants, 

 in hot, dry weather. New land, without manure, generally produces 

 the best crops in dry seasons. It must, however, be acknowledged, 

 that the extremes of heat, cold, and moisture, are alike detrimental 

 to vegetation in all seasons; and that hot, dry summers, are often 

 attended with results as fatal to vegetable productions, as the cold- 

 ness of winter. 



It is well known to all experienced gardeners, that the difficulty of 

 raising early cauliflower in our climate is such, that, in the event of 

 one month's extreme warm weather taking place when this vegetable 

 is near maturity, its effects are so injurious that very few perfect 

 heads can be obtained; whereas, in the temperate climate of Eng- 

 land, this vegetable, as well as broccoli, which some consider the 



