676 
THE GARDENERS’ CHRONICLE. 
[Ocr. 10, 
wholly destroyed last year, but they had been only | 
so treated for one year, and several years arë 
perhaps wanted to restore tone to the constitution 
of this plant. 
lf it be said, that the reasoning by which we 
have sought to induce autumn planting—that is to 
say immediate planting, is inconclusive, we then 
appeal to experience; we refer to the opinions 
of Mr. Grorce JonwsoN, and to the evidence 
of Mr. Grey, of Dilston, of Mr. Jasrer Rogers, 
Mr. Goopirr, Mr. Sarruerp, and many others. In 
aletter to the Farmers Journal, Mr. Hewrrr 
Davis speaks thus :— 3 
* Late in the spring of 1845 I was surprised in 
ploughing up some ground whereon Potatoes had been 
grown the preceding year, to find those that had remained 
in the earth all the winter, notwithstanding the extra- 
ordinary frosts of that season, were perfectly sound, 
and in much fresher condition than those that had been 
in clamp—the latter, as is always the case, had made 
considerable shoots, and were much less juicy. I 
thered from this that Potatoes might safely be planted 
in the autumn, and that by doing so the seed would not 
suffer exhaustion from the usual premature growth in 
the clamp ; and also that decay would not progress 
during the cold of winter underground as it does in the 
higher temperature of a clamp. Also, I had observed 
in ground planted two successive years with Potatoes, 
that in the second year the self-sown sets of the pre- 
vious year’s growth were always distinguishable by their 
larger haulm ; and accordingly, in the open weather of 
last December, I planted the acre of ground alluded to, 
and strange to say, notwithstanding the disease prevails 
all around me, this piece is exempt.” 
We have autumn-planted Potatoes of our own 
just dug, and although attacked by the blight of the 
haulm, the injury to the tubers is inconsider- 
able, except in one wet sandy strip of ground, 
compared with what has been found in the spring- 
planted beds, and the sound Potatoes seem to be 
quite sound. Finally, a letter from Mr. L. Munn, 
of King’s Langley, thus records the issue of an 
experiment that in our eyes is conclusive :— 
«As recommended in your volume of last year, I 
planted three rows of alate kind on the 27th of Nov., 
1845 ; and three rows of the same length and the same 
ind of Potato, in March, 1846: both were put in 
8 inches deep, and whole sets. The produce respectively 
was as follows :—From the autumn planted, 4 bushels 
and 1 peck of large Potatoes fit for table, and 1 bushel 
of small ones; from the spring planted, 2 bushels of 
large Potatoes fit for table, and 1 bushel and 3 pecks 
small ones. I also planted about 3 poles of ground in 
the autumn with diseased Potatoes, which turned out 
quite as well as the others, and perfectly free from dis- 
ease. And what I noticed as a remarkable fact was, 
that the diseased sets, in many instances, were not. any 
more decayed when I took up the crop than they were 
when I planted them; the disease seemed stopped by 
planting that depth in the soil. I think that autumn 
planting cannot be too strongly insisted on.” 
For these reasons, which we believe to be good 
in theory, which are certainly so in practice, and 
which involve no necessity for examining into the 
cause of the Potato disease, we join those who 
advise that the crop for 1847, if to be planted at all, 
be planted immediately, and deep, or well earthed 
up. The effect of the latter will be to increase 
the chance of safety, and not to reduce the crop ; 
for if the number of tubers then formed be dimi- 
nished, their weight will be greatly increased, as 
our own experiments sufficiently show. 
And now as to the fitness of diseased sets for 
a crop. We believe they may be used safely. 
This could not have been suspected d priori, and 
we formerly entertained the opposite opinion; but 
experience has taught us otherwise; multiplied 
experiments have shown that the soundest sets will 
readily become diseased, and that half-rotten 
Potatoes will yield a good produce. Mr. Hewirr 
Davis mentions the case of an acre which—although 
planted with sets positively diseased—has produced 
a crop perfeetly sound, and is almost the only 
healthy exception he is acquainted with. Indeed 
theinstances of this are so numerous that we un- 
continue so, and they look well, the crop will still be an 
average one. The Potatoes were grown in drill rows 
of 28 inches wide :— 
70 yards in length of drill .pro- 
duced of the October planting 124 stones of sound 
24 unsound 
» 
Total . 15 stones 
70 yards planted in March pro- 
duced , . . . . 10 stones of sound 
3 » unsound 
Total 11} stones 
70 yards planted with eyes scooped 
from the Potato produced . 8 stones of sound 
BE aes unsound 
reservedly admit them ; they, in fact, constitute one | 
of the enigmas of the Potato question. Never- 
theless we would rather use sound sets if we could 
get them. 
Such scems to us to be the exact state of our 
knowledge with respect to the Potato crop, apart 
from surmises and conjectures and opinions, of 
which we have an enormous crop, with neither 
time nor patience to thrash it out, for the sake of 
one chance grain of corn amongst a mountain of 
chaff, We trust and believe that we are right in 
our recommendations ; but experience alone can 
confirm their soundness. They offer what seems 
to be a reasonable chance of recovering the Potato ; 
they have the sanction of the most intelligent 
gardeners and farmers ; and at all events are not 
founded on mystery, nor opposed to evidence or 
common sense. 
And now we turn to another important question 
belonging to the Potato, which we promised to 
report upon in due time. On the 25th of July of 
this year (p. 499) we stated that the only thing 
which seemed to stop the mischief last season was 
mowing off or pulling up the tops. Our words 
were: “That did answer where the operation was 
performed soon enough; but then the crop was 
reatly diminished? On another occasion, we 
spoke doubtfully of it (see p. 552), afterwards more 
favourably (p. 563), and at a later period (Sept. 5, 
p.595), as a judicious measure, or at least one in 
which there is no harm. During the autumn we 
have had some experiments carried on, with refer- 
ence to this point; they have now been brought 
to a close, and with the following result. 
A piece of ground that had received no manure 
for two years, very heavy land, well limed, in capi- 
tal condition, was thrown up in lazy-beds, with deep 
ditches between them, and sloping to the south at 
alow angle. On these beds were planted Potatoes 
imported from New Grenada, Naples, Oporto, and 
the Azores; a Black Kidney from Aberdeen; Re- 
gents, picked out of a diseased crop had on the 
same land, and Regents obtained from untainted 
districts in Yorkshire. They were put into the 
ground before the Ist of April, planted shallow, and 
left to their fate, without earthing up or any further 
attendance. ‘hey grew with extraordinary vigour, 
stood well up, and for a long time seemed proof 
against disease. It turned out that they were more 
occupied in “running to straw” than in forming 
tubers. At last they. were all suddenly struck, as 
nearly as possible at. the same time, and rapidly 
gave way under the blight. In a few days the 
haulm of a part of each was pulled up, while a part 
was left untouched, and this operation was so 
varied as to render the experiment as conclusive as 
it could be. As the beds were of unequal length, it 
is not worth detaining the reader with the exact 
produce of each. The result will be better shown 
by the following Table, in which the calculations are 
reduced by Mr. Tuowrson to the uniform standard 
of 100 feet. 
| 
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Total 91 stones 
The land and manure were alike in all__Juhin Grey, 
Dilston, Oct. 5, 1846. | 
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very small many of the tubers scarcely the size of 
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marbles. The sets when imported were small, and 
appeared as if unripe, but perfectly free from dis- 
ease. It is a roundish white variety. 
The Naples was roundish oblong, and of a pink 
colour; some of the produce was of middling size, 
but many of the tubers very small. The crop from 
the bed which had charcoal ashes was a little better 
than the others. 
The Red Oporto was kidney-shaped, of a purplish 
red; the produce was middling sized, with fewer 
small tubers than in the two preceding varieties. 
The White Oporto was irregularly round; its 
produce middling sized. 
The Azores resembled the Naples ; the produce 
somewhat better. 
The Black Aberdeen Kidney was of a tolerably 
large size ; but was more diseased than any of the 
others, many of the tubers being in the putrid state. 
In this experiment the average amount of produce 
was less where the stems were remoyed, but the pro- 
portion of unsound was 11 per cent. greater where 
the haulm was not removed. In some cases, and 
particularly in that of the Black Kidney, the sound 
produce was greatest where the haulm was removed, 
Hence it may be inferred that the system of re- 
moving the infected haulm is attended with no real 
advantage, because, although the process diminishes 
the per centage of unsound Potatoes hy one half, it 
also diminishes the crop from 1700 to 1300, and 
therefore is productive of serious loss. But we are 
acquainted with another experiment, which we are 
not at liberty to publish, in which the result was 
the other way, the pulling up the haulm having 
been attended by an increase in the number of dis- 
eased Potatoes. On the other hand M. Bonsean, 
of Chambéry, mentions an experiment which 
would seem to be decisively in favour of cutting off 
the haulm. 
A field attacked by disease was carefully divided 
off into three pieces, each of 200 square feet, and 
in all respects exactly alike. 
Proportion of | The relative 
unsound weight of the 
crop. 
Potatoes, 
No. 1 was untouched) œ i 100 
No. 2 had furrows 5 $ 
or 6 in. deep d 2 
between each row M & zu 112,50 
No. 3 was cut down | & 
to within 1j inch | EA 
_of the ground SE E | 150 
And we doubtnot that equally conflicting results 
will have been obtained by others; for so it is in 
almost everything belonging to this singular ques- 
tion. For ourselves, we will not pretend to draw an 
inference from the experiments; we, however, quite 
agree with M. BoxzrAN in protesting against the 
bad plan of digging Potatoes which are unripe, 
merely because they are diseased. The digging, 
under such circumstances, can do nothing but 
mischief. 
So many persons continue to profit by the libe- 
rality of Mr. Merx, in allowing his Polmaise house 
to be seen, that it has become necessary to limit the 
time at. which it can be shown; we therefore trust 
that the following letter from this gentleman, while 
it evinces his anxiety still to oblige the publie, will 
have the effect of securing the privacy of his resi- 
dence at all times except those which he has named, 
“ Judging from my own correspondence; from your 
remarks in the Chronicle of the 26th of September, 
and from * answers to correspondents,’ that many per- 
sons anxious to employ the Polmaise mode of heat- 
ing experience some difficulty in doing so, arising partly 
from the general ignorance in this country of the 
manner in which heat is diffused, and partly from the 
opposition offered by interested parties to this cheap 
and efficient method, I beg to state, that with a view 
to benefit the public by extending the knowledge of 
this, the only true mode by which atmospheric heat can 
be equally diffused, and to defeat the opposition offered, 
I am quite willing to exhibit the hothouse, explain the 
principles on which it is heated, and show the manner 
of carrying them out, to any architect, hothouse builder, 
gentleman, gardener, bricklayer, nurseryman, or ama- 
teur, every Wednesday afternoon, between the hours of 
l and 5 o'clock, for a short time to come. I trust 
this will have the desired effect; for surely hothouse 
builders must perceive how much they are interested in 
the carrying out a cheap mode of heating. My house 
is two miles from the Reigate Station, on the Brighton 
or Dover Railway.— Daniel B. Meck, Holmesdale 
House, Nutfield.” 
We are informed upon the best authority that 
the valuable collection of Orchidaceous plants of 
the late Rev. Joun Crowes, of Broughton-hall, 
Manchester, has been left by will to the Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Kew, and that measures are 
already taken for their removal to that establishment. 
