82 The Potatoe Plague. 
or the potatoe cut into two pieces, and planted at ten inches, 
(both may be tried;) the plants to be placed near the sur- 
face, and never highly earthed up by the plough, as it is nat- 
ural for the tubers of the plant to run upwards, and the more 
of them that may be exposed to the sun and air in ripening, 
will make so much better seed. They should be taken up 
rather green and unripe than otherwise, but approaching to a 
ripe state. They should be placed im pits, (in an airy situ- 
ation,) of about two and a half feet at bottom; the pits may be 
made of tolerable length. They should have first a hittle 
earth thrown over them—say, half an inch—and thena 
good covering of straw, finishing with a few inches deep of 
earth, as it is the straw which will defend them from frost, 
and a few straw funnels at a short distance is all that is 
necessary. 
In stating the cause of the potatoe rot, a correspondent of 
the Maine Farmer, E. G. Buxton, states an experiment 
which he made in growing some potatoes in the cellar, ina 
dark place, and they were affected with rot, like those raised 
in the field. From this he infers that the disease is not 
caused by rust, heat, cutting the seed, &c., but that the cause 
is in the potatoe. Some person, commenting on this, at- 
tributes the cause to disease in the previous crop, which was 
not perceptible, and was transmitted to the new produce. 
Several pamphlets on this subject have been published in 
Great Britain and France, the contents of which, and the 
views entertained by their compilers with regard to the causes 
and remedies for the malady, I shall now briefly state. 
In the Comptes rendus,* M. Payen states the result of his 
chemical investigations. He finds what he calls the dry 
matter, that is to say, all except the water, diminished in 
quantity to the extent of twelve per cent. The diseased part 
* Comptes rendus Hebdomadaires, &c., Nos. 13 to 16. Paris, 1845. 
