THE GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICLE. 
[Aue. 8. 
532 
among them. Independently, then, of the more direct 
applications to be made of Potato-starech in cookery, 
and of such the excellent dish * fondu” may he taken 
as an example, these metamorphoses which it may be 
caused to undergo, make out this tuber to be a far more 
important object in cuitivation than many of us seem to 
have been generally aware of. So abundzntly is P.- 
tato-starch manufactured in France, that Raspail as- 
sures us it was difficult for him to procure Wheat-flour 
in Paris which had not been adulterated with it. These 
facts have raised the Potato in my own estimation as a 
plant that is likely to claim a still better attention than 
ever from the farmer. We have seen that even under 
the extraordinary blight to which it was lately sub- 
jected, its value “as a producer of stareh," has not 
very greatly diminished ; and if every village had only 
been prepared with such simple machinery for separating 
it as they have in France, there can be no doubt a vast 
amount of a valuable article of commerce would have 
been saved which has now been lost. 
Perhaps it is for some of these uses to which Potato- 
starch may be put, that we may be more inclined to 
recommend its increased culture, than as a staple com- 
modity for dieting any class of the community. We 
cannot yet foresee to what extent the disease which has 
prevailed over an extensive portion of the globe ma; 
be permitted to spread. It seems to have been brought 
about by some unusual combination of atmospheric in- 
fluences, operating over a large extent of the earth’s 
surface, It is also probable that the resulting dele- 
terious infiuence has been gradually and not suddenly 
induced. It may not be improbable therefore that 
its disappearance may be gradual. But I think 
we are justified in hoping that a return to the more 
usual and more healthyinfluences to which we have 
heretofore seen this plant accommodate itself in our 
own climate, will ultimately prevail, and there can be 
no reason as yet for our despairing to see the Potato 
ever reassume the important character it has hitherto 
held among cultivated plants. The records of another 
year’s experience may afford us grounds for judging 
better than it seems possible to do at present. In 
speaking of the uses to which Potato-starch may be put, 
and in endeavouring to show you, as I hope to do pre- 
sently, the important service it performs as a wholesome 
food for man, I would insist upon the propriety of our 
calling things by their right names. When the Had- 
leigh Farmers’ Club circulated a paper in this neigh- 
bourhood directing attention to the means of saving 
the sound;starch in rotting Potatoes, it was thought ad- 
visable by nearly all who were present when the MS. 
was submitted to them, to change the word “starch” 
into “flour,” lest the poor should be prejudiced against 
the plan, upon hearing they were recommended to eat 
common starch, a substance they supposed to be useful 
only for the washerwomen. But no sooner was the 
effort made to induce. them „to prepare this e * flour,” 
than the old women i and 
declared it to be nothing but the on same starch they 
had been taught to prepare half a century ago, as a 
substitute for common starch during a scarcity of 
Wheat-flour, Thus, instead of an impediment being 
removed, a prejudice was raised against it which might 
readily have been allayed by showing them what was 
the real office which all starches are capable of perform- 
ing, and whieh the commonest of them is daily per- 
forming as an ingredient of their wheaten loaves. 
Inuline is a substance which closely resembles starch, 
but does not change blue by iodine. Chemical analysis 
has not yet succeeded in detecting any differences in 
their composition. It has been extracted | from the 
tubers of the lem Artichok tuber- 
osus), Elecampane (Inula helenium), ie Dahlia, and a 
few others, all of which belong to the extensive order 
of * Composites.” Perhaps | the day may arrive when 
the ti of this rom some such 
neglected tuber as that of the Dahlia, may afford us a 
new source of industrial occupation. 
(To be continued.) 
THE STORM IN LONDON “AND THE 
NEIGHBOURHOOD. 
August 1, 1846.—As the effects of this disastrous 
visitation will long continue to be a subject of interest, 
we have taken some pains to ascertain, often from ac- 
tual inspection, what injury has really been inflicted 
upon the principal gardens, and we now produce the 
following summary :— 
Tulsc-hill, Brirton.—The rain and hail here were terrific ; the 
pues began to UT at 3 o'clock, at first moderately heavy, 
n torrents. The little garden stools, about a foot high, 
^o soon under Vales or just seen floating above. In hal? 
an hour came the hail, suchas often attends a ayaa thunder- 
storm ; but the stones soon increased in siz) 
and the very ges devastation became apparent ; the lawn was 
Mr. Dickson’s, Acre Lane, Brixton, Tees has received 
most extensive injury ; not only is the dre of the glass in the 
extensive range o: pits literally Sn from the frames, but 
the fine collection of Auriculas and other plants has been 
almost wholly destroyed—many o! of. the former scarce and ex- 
pensive Varicties—together with seedlings of acknowledged ex- 
cellence not yet in the trade. Hum shrubs, too, in the pen 
oe as Aucubas, &c., appea the tops SE been dij 
a sors, is baut others are almost 
Hem of their foliage. —Messrs. Denyer, Higgins, y and 
Dawson, in this locality, have also em sufferers to a great 
Camberwell, too, which lie! close proximity, EE 
not been RU a Mr. Cuthill, of Derna ki and o 
HAVE uon lass UR as well as plants destroyed, 
Fairbairn’s N "y, Clapham.—The whole glass at 
Nue PO EUR da with very e exception, has been broken 
atoms, scarcely a single pau naining whole in any of the 
Roos pud in a house glazed w vi th s sheet-j glass, in panes, 24 in, 
by 6 in.; one or two have escaped. The young Heaths and 
VUEOE both out of doors and in pits, have also been damaged 
— This nursery has also suffered to 
y jane remaining soundin any of the 
houses. The Lilies and other ET have also been much in- 
jured, both under cr and out 0 
con nel ably nearer Kennington, 
Z ya greemhonse lately erected and 
glazed with sheet-glass 16 oz. to the 1b., has scarcely a pane 
left in any of ine. lights. sve ‘rants pee also inj irea i and 
a along the Cl K Clapham 
mon, the oie in ee "dwelling houses ai. S right- 
Mand side have been more or less broken, the damage i increas- 
ing as the common is approached; pan bey: ond thisno injury 
has been sustained. 
Surrey Zoological Gar ens Much of the glass broken in the 
circular house opposite e the 
Messrs. Chandlers’, of Vauschall. —Like Mr, Dickson’s, of 
Acre-lane, this nursery appears tol have besni ip ihe very vortex 
of the storm, for scarcely a li can boa: f possessing a. 
single pane. The Camellias, A te hia Ae establishment 
has. long been celebrated, have been very much destroyed, 
the plants being sadly dilated: eun the blossom Donor which 
which were finely set, being broken 
and ote er plants have also been ates ij^ 
a vr arther along | the 
other trees have been much i injured, the young UH dui 
broken off ; but, beyond this, little damage appea 
een done. From , however, to near V: 'auxhall toll E the 
windows in the PE NET on “the e right-hand side are 
more or less broken, and in some not a whole pane has been left, 
Mr. Chapman's, South Lambeth.-Animmense quantity of gguares 
have been broken here, a great portion of them measuring 
10 inches by 8 inches, being the whole of the tops of the hot- 
houses. Ten p ot Grapes, i this ESB HOT are almost 
a total wreck, other AXE ther hothouses 
in this locality oos EU been extensively aida. 
Brooklands, Blackheath Park. e pane broken by the hail. 
Mr. Catleugh’s Nursery, Chelsea.—' The hailstones broke 11,000 
panes of glass here; but the P have, fortunately, gea 
uS eM ely uninj jured. e mentioned that Os 
w conservatory, for the sake of experiment, was EM with 
British sheet-glass of CRI HH SD EE d 16 oz. to Qs the 
other 21, the n being 40 inches by a foot. The 16 oz. z. glass 
was broken by the hail; but the 21 stood it, although. Ses hail 
rebounded off it with a force that broke a pane of common 
glass in an opposite window. 
Chelsea Botanic Garden. V About 2 200 panes e broken here, 
most of them measuring 8 inches by 10 inche: 
Mr. Tuck, of Sloane-street. — Much. injured ; likewise the 
Messrs. Elliott (Pine growers, &c.), in the same neighbour- 
ood. But in the 's-road, Messrs. Weeks and Da; 
escaped, de so have Messrs. Knight and Perry, HS orno hail 
haying visited them, although the rain was heay 
fessi's. Whitley y and Osborne, of Plon. Uninjured, no hail 
aving fallen ; but abundance of heavy rai: 
Hackney and Clapton.—No glass broken PIT at Messrs. Lod- 
diges’ or Low's. The rain very heavy, and a few hailstones 
fell, but too small to do any ue 
Messrs, Hender: son, Pine-apple-place.—No i ‘ing ury done here. 
yal Botanic Gardens, "Regent's Park. nly a very dew 
panes broken, and these iu the pits; the Conservatory not 
harmed, 
ars 8. DR A pun Park.— —Uninjured. 
fr. Ronalds and, Son, Brextford.—No injury done here ; heavy 
rainy “but no ieil, 
Hortioultural Society's aaraa Turntiam Green.—Some few 
panes broker ut damage tri 
Mr. Glendinning, E Ni wr n by dde damage done, but 
not toa i great e: 
Aj m x ge 
e. c About Qut d panes broken. 
gr. to C.J. , Essenden- 
Ties "Hatfield, EE that od bres SLE that place RU 
neighbour! hood about half-past 5 o'clo ck, the rain coming 
in torrents, tearing up the B roads ; after 6 o'clock the EE 
abated a little, and in about 20 minutes the hail and large 
pieces of ice fell i Bs almost ail Herd, square, flat, oblong, as 
large as walnu: asuring 3 inches roui und, breaking 
andinjuring mi everything with which they came in contact, 
fruit as well as trees. Vegetables were strewed about and 
completely spoiled, and about 3000 panes of glass have been 
literally smashed to atoms, many large squares are also broken 
in the mansion house, nor "did the houses in the village escape, 
of them having suffered; only a single light escaped at 
pu Biss and that was covered over with a double matting. 
Dimsdale’s place has also suffered to a great extent ; 
s0 Ius Sir C. E. Smith's, at Bedwel Park, and all this destruc- 
tion was done in about five minutes. The storm apparently 
came in a south-west direction ; the hail has not, from wha‘ 
we can learn, extended three miles either right or left of 
his place. 
e tand that a sul is about being 
entered into for the relief of the unfortunate sufferers by 
this visitation, and that several gentlemen in the neigh- 
bourhood of Clapham have sent in their names to the 
committee, with donations. Mr. Groom and several 
of the large nurserymen of the metropolis have formed 
the committee, and they have iR the services of 
Mr. Cutler as the Hon. Sec. A publie meeting will 
take place at the Swan, at Stockwell, on "Thursda; 
e tho 13th inst., to consider the best means of carrying 
the subseription into effect. 
THE PO POTATO DISEASE, 
I nave watched this peculiar visitation with much 
interest now for more than a year, and although its 
reappearance has been doubted by some, it now begins 
to be generally admitted to have actually taken place, 
and to be carrying destruction into every quarter. i 
have not seen a piece of Potatoes in a cottager’s garden, 
a farmer’s field, or any other place, but what is griev- 
ously affected with what is, and has been, * termed the 
disease," viz., uleeration, gangrene, putridity, mildew, 
and everyform of mischief, and the effluvium is very 
eeann in every quarter, 
I have the most abundant crops of Potatoes from 
E EA sets, but the haulm and foliage of none 
are free from the pest, or ever have been, though to a 
casual observer they appeared all that could be wished, 
luxuriant and healthy. I had a beautiful bed of seeds 
lings, and a quantity planted out in due time are grow- 
ing away as luxuriantly as from a good sized tuber ; 
they are all diseased, and have long been so, 
5|although the seed was brought from Ireland, 
and advertised as haying been saved from plants free 
from disease. They were sown by me on a healthy, 
sweet, well prepared piece of ground, and planted, too, 
where a Potato to my own knowledge had not been 
grown for these last six seasons—if ever previously. I 
have observed that all those manured with charrings, 
soot, and lime, are the last to be attacked in the stalks 
and foliage ; and I have not as yet found a decayed or 
affected tuber to outward appearance amongst those 
manured with the above materials, but I will look 
sharply after them on taking up the crop, which will 
very soon now take place, as 1 have long since burnt 
up all the stalks and foliage. | I shall, as I did last year, 
dress all the Potatoes as they are taken up with the 
above materials; indeed I have all the early crops 
already done ; but then it is of but little use unless my 
neighbours also put an effectual remedy into practice. 
The real cause of all this destruction amongst the 
Potato crops is a very small insect of a light yellow or 
straw colour, with a small pointed head with horns, and 
it has six legs. This appears to me to be the female, 
the male is something larger, of a darker colour, having 
wings and four golden coloured stripes on each side of 
its body ; these insects are remarkably active in their 
movements, puncturing the ribs and other parts of the 
under sides of the foliage of the Potatoes, where they 
may easily be discovered with, or by the application, of 
a good glass ; and if.the stalks and. green leaves are 
plaeed in a good position in respect to the reflection of 
a good clear’ light, &c., both the insect, their wood and 
bunches of eggs, may readily be discovered on their 
stems, stalks, foliage, or tubers, that are to all appear- 
ance to a casual observer healthy and unaffected ; gan- 
grene, putridity, and mildew take place, according to. 
atmospheric and other causes, very quickly after those 
destructives have made punctures, which they do asto- 
nishingly quick, proceeding on to more healthy parts. 
This will be clearly visible with a good microscope. 
This conclusion is founded on long and close obser- 
vation; I collect foliage and stalks from the most 
healthy plants, and if the above described insect is to 
be discovered on any part, the crop-will very early 
show symptoms of disease; the full-grown insect may 
be observed with the naked eye, although its shape and 
limbs cannot be seen, By taking a handful of Potato- 
stalks and leaves, and placing them in a vessel of water, 
and covering the whole with a bell-glass the whole pro- 
gress of both insect and disease will very readily and 
early be discovered by a watchful observer. This 
morning I was looking through my microscope at 
the industry of two I had enclosed on a Potato-leaf. 
Their activity im making punctures is astonishing ; 
they seem to stay a short time to suck out the 
juice, as one of them made five punctures, and 
the other two, in less than a minute and a half, all 
of which were clearly observable ; some of the Potato 
foliage I have seen thus punctured on the underside as 
quickly as a village green would be with a osoro g rigs 
MGR rings in their snouts, and has a at 
similar appearance in one stage. It is of little utility 
to search for the offender, or cause of the disease. 
Where it is already visible to a casual observer, in the 
shape of blotchings, gangrene, putridity, mildew, &c., 
the real cause will not then be found. The real 
offenders must be searched for on the most healthy 
parts, and if they are there to be found, the crop is 
sure to be considerably injured, if not a total failure. 
I discovered the very insect above described last year, 
but I could not imagine it to be the cause of the evil ; 
but its again making its appearance this year so early in 
the hothouses, pits, and frames, hooped beds, borders, 
quarters, and every field and garden, and on every spe- 
cimen sent me from a distance, I began to have a very 
strong suspicion of him, and that this is the real cause 
of all the mischief I am fully satisfied. Where soot- 
water and charcoal-dust is applied, it either kills or 
drives them away ; but as to Tobacco-smoke, it does not 
seem to take any more effect of this insect than it would 
onan old Chelsea pensioner. Whether it is a small 
locust or thrips I cannot say ; but as to its ravages, 
there may yet be hopes that they may be stopped, and 
that this useful vegetable will not be wholly lost to the 
country. Atmospheric changes and variations o 
seasons have an astonishing effect on retarding or 
entirely stopping the ravages of insects. 
I hope precaution has been taken to provide abund- 
ance of good winter vegetables, Where this has not 
been fully attended to, Swede Turnips should be trans- 
planted, the bulbs of which, by good management, may 
be grown large, and will be found useful food for ani- 
mals, while a sufficient quantity could be saved to pro- 
duce greens for culinary purposes. Large strong 
bulbs, too, of the white Ends of Turnips in sufficient 
quantity should be timely procured in autumn, and 
planted in rows 15 or 18 aa apart each way, 0n 
sloping banks. It is astonishing the quantity of useful 
wholesome Greens they will thus produce, and very early 
too, by the above management; but after all, for all 
purposes as a substitute for the Potato, nothing, in my 
opinion, with good culture, will equal the arsnip, 
which Í took care to abundantly provide, with Carrots 
and Jerusalem Artichokes, nenni the emergency. PX 
this is not the season of the year to be talking abou 
those articles ; but let every one put their shoulder to the 
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