43 [Assemble 



bloom it makes admirable hay for the horse, and can be taken 



several times in the season from the soil. 



<» 

 Among root crops, the potato holds the first rank. This pre- 

 cious tuber is found wherever any other plant grows in the wilds 

 and mountains of the country. The best varieties cultivated are 

 the Rhenish bright red, the yellow round, having a rough skin, 

 and the blue potato. They are all found good for the table, but 

 vary in quantity and quality. For food for cattle the Swiss grow 

 some crosses that originated in Holland and England. They are 

 planted by hand, though some farmers use a plow to make a fur- 

 row, in which the tubers intended for seed are dropped. The old 

 plan of cutting the potato, or planting a small inferior tuber, is 

 among enlightened cultivators abandoned. This valuable vege- 

 table is liable to three peculiar diseases, which have destroyed 

 whole crops and almost created famine in extensive districts, 

 since the inhabitants are not supple, and cannot shift from one 

 course of husbandry to another, but hold to old usages and cus- 

 toms with a tenacity that is truly astonishing. 



I do not think it amiss to give a little sketch of these diseases. 

 The rust, frizzle disease, and dry rot, are the most formidable and 

 destructive; the last is very dangerous, because it strikes rapidly 

 the soundest tubers. The rust is known by brownish spots on 

 the leaves, which wither by degrees and at last perish; then the 

 disease sinks below into the roots. And then comes the frizzle 

 disease, or in the language of the country, kraupelkrankheit, be- 

 cause the leaves of the plant become crisped and dry up long 

 before the potato ripens. The effluvia coming from such a grow- 

 ing crop is very offensive, and the tubers small and few. 



The dry rot is characterised by the hardness of the tubers. 

 They cannot be cooked, and are good for nothing. This malady 

 arises from a sort of fungus that springs up in the interior of the 

 potato. After a while it invades the whole substance. The 

 savans of Germany and France have put forth some very plausi- 

 ble theories relative to the causes and remedies for this terrible 

 disease, but their learned disquisitions and experiments have not 

 proved of lasting utility to the farming community. To arrest 



