324 Percy Wells Bidwell 



altogether. Besides suffering from the inroads of the Canada thistle 

 and the Hessian fly, it was repeatedly damaged by a sort of fungus 

 growth, known to the writers of that time as blast, rust or mildew. 

 Many attempts were made to explain this last phenomenon, which, 

 as the investigations of the Massachusetts Society for Promoting 

 Agriculture later proved, was really caused by the use of unselected, 

 infected seed.^ Dwight went to work systematically to fathom the 

 mystery and after examining and discarding such alleged causes 

 as the character of the soil, the climate, and the ''noxious effluvia" 

 from barberry bushes, he concludes that the damage must proceed 

 from the use of stable manure as a fertilizer. This, he believed, 

 forced the growth of the plant too rapidly in its early stages.^ Har- 

 riott, the English traveler, came much nearer to a correct solution 

 of the problem. He wrote: "In some of the farther inland parts, 

 wheat is raised; but on the sea-coast, it has never been cultivated 

 with much success, being subject to blasts. Various reasons are 

 assigned for this: some suppose these blasts to be occasioned by 

 the saline vapours from the sea; but I can not agree to this, well 

 knowing that many of the best wheats that are grown in England 

 in quantity and quality, are from sea-marshes and lands adjoining 

 the sea. Others attribute it to the vicinity of Barbary-bushes of 

 the truth of which I can not speak. But the principal cause appeared 

 to me the poverty and sandy nature of soil in general, together with 

 exceedingly bad management."^ 



The Lack of Root Crops. 



One of the greatest defects in the system of husbandry practiced in 

 New England was the lack of root crops. Such crops, especially 

 the turnip, were being extensively used in England as a winter food 

 for cattle, making possible the keeping of more animals and in better 

 condition, besides securing for the farmer a valuable addition to 

 his supply of stable manure. The potato was, to be sure, culti- 



' Massachusetts Agricultural Repository and Journal. Published by the 

 Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture. 10 vols, Boston, 1793-1832. 

 Vol. v., pp. 132-150. The first two volumes of this collection include the con- 

 tributions to the Society, published as annual papers. Referred to in later notes 

 as Mass. Agric. Soc. Papers. 



2 Travels, II. 322-329. Kittredge, The Old Farmer and His Almanack, pp. 

 322-332, has a chapter entitled Barberries and Wheat, in which he discusses 

 the difficulties encountered by the farmers of the period in attempting to grow 

 this grain. 



» Struggles through Life, II. 32-33. 



