’36 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 11 , 1883. 
although diseased, is carefully taken into consideration in the calcu¬ 
lation of results. 
These experiments have been made on the growth of eight different 
kinds of Potatoes and under seven different conditions of soil, drain¬ 
age, and manures, and upon twenty-three experimental plots, of 
the common kinds of Potatoes, Champions, Skerries, and Magnum 
Bonums, grown under ordinary conditions in the same kind of soil— 
a sandy loam with sandy subsoil. The Champions yielded 3 tons 
18 cwt. 3 qrs. of good table Potatoes, 4 tons 5 cwt. 1 qr. 7 lbs. of 
inferior quality, and 9 cwt. 3 qrs. 10 lbs. of diseased tubers, making 
a total of 8 tons 13 cwt. 3 qrs. 17 tbs. per acre. Skerries yielded 
4 tons 16 cwt. 1 qr. of good table Potatoes, and 1 ton 6 cwt. 1 qr. of 
inferior quality, making a total of 6 tons 2 cwt. 2 qrs. per acre. 
Magnum Bonum 6 tons 4 cwt. 2 qrs. 21 lbs. suitable for table use, 
and 2 tons. 12 cwt. 2 qrs. of inferior quality, being a total of 8 tons 
17 cwt. 0 qrs. 21 lbs. per acre. The per-centage of diseased tubers 
in the Skerry and Magnum Bonum was so exceedingly small that it 
it not given, that of the Champions is considerable. 
The advantage of changing seed is shown by the following:—Skerry 
seed, grown on the same farm for several years, yielded per acre 6 tons 
17 cwt. 3 qrs. 7 lbs.; but new seed on the same ground yields 7 tons 
10 cwt. 3 qrs. 21 lbs. per acre ; and the increase of quality was exactly 
in the same proportion. 
The advantage of well-drained land over undrained has been very 
strikingly shown this year. Skerries, new seed, in undrained land 
yielded 7 tons 10 cwt. 3 qrs. 21 lbs., but in drained soil yielded 
8 tons 17 cwt. 21 lbs. per acre. The Champions under similar con¬ 
ditions in undrained land yielded 6 tons 11 cwt. 1 qr., but in drained 
soil'the yield was 8 tons 13 cwt. 3 qrs. 17 lbs. per acre. The Magnum 
Bonum presents even a greater contrast. In undrained soil there 
was a yield of 4 tons 11 cwt. 3 qrs. 14 lbs., but in drained soil it was 
8 tons 17 cwt. 21 lbs. per acre. The difference in quality cannot 
be well shown in figures, but of picked Potatoes suitable for 
market the undrained land yielded only 2 tons 12 cwt. 2 qrs., but 
the drained soil yielded 6 tons 4 cwt. 2 qrs. 21 lbs. It should be also 
observed that in undrained land the diseased tubers form a per¬ 
centage of the refuse of all the lands; even of Magnum Bonum 
there were 6 cwt. 2 qrs. 7 lbs. per acre of diseased Potatoes. 
But of all the conditions which influence, the production of crops 
over which the farmer has control the action of manure appears 
the greatest. In a portion of land where the crop was grown with¬ 
out manure there was a yield of 3 tons 5 cwt. 2 qrs. 14 lbs. per acre, 
and in the same soil with the ordinary manure (about 25 tons per 
acre) the yield was 6 tons 17 cwt. 3 qrs. 7 lbs.; but with extra 
manure at the rate of 56 tons well-rotted farmyard manure the 
yield was 15 tons 8 cwt. 1 qr. 21 lbs. per acre, but with the same 
heavy manuring on undrained soil the yield was much less—8 tons 
10 cwt. 2 qrs. 14 lbs. per acre. 
Of new kinds reared by Mr. Torbitt, and the seed supplied for these 
experiments by Mr. A. Green, Trumra, a round blue Potato like the 
Skerry, and named New Skerry, yielded 7 tons 17 cwt. 2 qrs. of good 
table Potatoes, and 2 tons 19 cwt. 0 qrs. 7 lbs. of small ones, 
making a total of 10 tons 16 cwt. 2 qrs. 7 lbs. per acre. This is a 
very superior Potato in every respect, and free from disease. A 
white Potato named Tenant Right, elongated, with a rather uneven 
surface, hut good to eat, yielded 12 tons 9 cwt. 1 qr. 14 lbs. per 
acre, of which 9 to 10 cwt. were suitable for table use, but in un¬ 
drained ground the yield was under two-thirds of this. A very 
nice white Potato, round-shaped, remarkably free from disease or 
waste, and named Gladstone, yielded 7 tons 17 cwt. 2 qrs., and of 
these 6 tons 4 cwt. 2 qrs. were fit for table use ; and an unnamed 
Potato yielded 8 tons 10 cwt. 2 qrs. 14 lbs. per acre, but being subject 
to disease would not be worth preserving. 
The experiments made to test the value of Mr. J. L. Jensen’s re¬ 
commendation of heavy covering as a protection against disease has 
not confirmed his anticipations. In July, when the disease appeared 
first on the leaves, I selected a few perches in the ordinary crop, 
towards the middle of a field, and got our gardener to turn the haulms 
carefully towards the east, and on the west side of the drill to put on 
a covering of between 6 and 8 inches of mould, leaving that side of 
the drill perfectly clear of stalks, and the soil at an angle of about 
45° so as to protect it against rain. On the 26th of October I had 
them raised, and found 42105 per cent, diseased tubers, and in a drill 
alongside of them, which had received the ordinary culture, I found 
only 33 per cent, of diseased tubers, or a difference of 7 per cent, 
against the protected Potatoes. The soil is heavy, drained, and rich 
on which the experiment was conducted. 
To summarise these results, we find the advantage of the Potato 
crop of this year in drained land over undrained, all else being equal, 
is from 16 to 94 per cent., according to the kind of Potato grown, 
and the difference between a light and heavy soil is almost in the 
same proportion. The advantage of changing seed is at least 11 per 
cent., but the application of an increased quantity of manure gives 
a return so far beyond expectation that, without actual experiment, 
it appears incredible. It would not be just to draw any decided 
opinion . from these limited experiments on the merits of Mr. 
Jensen’s protective covering against the Potato disease; but from 
other experiments and microscopical examinations, with the object 
of tracing the origin and progress of the disease, extending over 
several years, I am of opinion that, whether there be a possible re¬ 
medy or not, it is yet undiscovered. But that which promises most 
practical advantage to agriculture is the successive introduction of 
new kinds of Potatoes carefully selected by practical farmers under 
scientific guidance ; and as the necessity must be continuous and the 
expense is considerable, Government assistance should be offered to 
such agricultural associations as by past gratuitous labours have 
proved their ability to conduct such work, as well as their zeal for 
the furtherance of agricultural prosperity. 
PROF. MEEHAN ON EVOLUTION. 
At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science at Montreal last year Prof. Thomas Meehan, in response 
to the invitation extended him at the Cincinnati meeting to address 
the Biological Section, spoke on variations in nature, and their bear¬ 
ing on the doctrine of evolution, and the theory of natural selec¬ 
tion. He premised that the doctrine of natural selection, as pro¬ 
pounded by Mr. Darwin, could not be controverted in so far as the 
continual dropping-out of intermediate forms was concerned, which 
left the extremes without connections, and gave us the idea of dis¬ 
tinct species. He thought there were some weaknesses in Mr. 
Darwin’s method of advocating his views, but these removed only 
left Mr. Darwin’s position stronger than he himself perceived. He 
then proceeded to show that variations in nature were much greater 
than Mr. Darwin evidently had knowledge of. The popular idea 
that no two leaves on a tree were exactly alike in every respect was 
shown to be literally true. Many illustrations were given, and speci¬ 
mens exhibited showing the great variations in seedlings of the same 
species, often from the same seed vessel; some from the latter would 
be regarded by any botanist who found them wild as distinct species. 
A series of sixteen cones of Pinus rigida was exhibited, each from a 
separate tree, all growing within a circle of twenty miles ; and the 
central links being taken away left nominal Pinus serotina at one 
end and Pinus rigida at the other. Other species could be made by 
taking the interior series of forms. The speaker contended that vari¬ 
ation was not a mere condition, but had to be accepted as a primary 
law of existence. As no two things have ever been produced exactly 
alike so far as we know, the result must necessarily be a wide 
divergence in time ; and as we know that death was also a certainty 
to individuals, distinct forms must certainly ensue. 
Heredity, as established by Mr. Darwin, was next reviewed, and 
shown to be established as a counterpoise to variation. It held vari¬ 
ation in check, but was finally overpowered by this the greater force. 
Sex was an attribute of heredity. Sex in flowers had no bearing on 
the future good of the race, and therefore crossing by insect agency 
or otherwise had no reference to the good of the race by aiding vari¬ 
ation in the direction of change to suit environments. It rather 
brought back what Mr. Darwin would imagine a useful variation 
towards its starting point. A variation which had started from the 
centre of a circle had to be cross-fertilised, if at all, from the centre 
from which it sprung, and the progeny was thus brought back 
towards its parent’s starting point. 
The next point made was that variations had no relation to the 
good of the individual or race. Numerous cases were adduced to 
show that the forms which had prevailed had not the slightest 
physiological advantage over the forms displaced, and that those 
who argued on the contrary were reduced to the solitary argument 
that there must have been some advantage or the species could not 
have survived. It must be so because it is, is an argument which has 
no place in researches such as we are engaged in now. The actions and 
behaviour of both plants and animals were not for their own indi¬ 
vidual good. Their whole efforts were in the interest of their pro¬ 
geny—for posterity, for the future, for objects wholly unknown to 
the individual. Yet we found from the science of the past that all 
this self-sacrifice—pleasant as it was made to be to the individual, 
and ignorant as these individuals were of what they were working 
for—all had resulted in present harmony. In the speaker’s language 
“ we and all organic things are the invited guests of Nature. She 
makes our stay with her as pleasant as possible, but she ruthlessly 
dismisses us the moment we cease to serve her future purposes.” The 
laws by which destruction were brought about were then considered, 
and the manner in which species were created by the aid of this 
destructive power discussed ; and how, under the operation of the 
law of heredity, surviving forms found a temporary standing ground 
until the greater law of variation again finally removed them. 
Finally the speaker took up the objection that Mr. Darwin’s views 
were destructive of Christianity, and showed that they were in 
reality the strongest confirmation of Christianity’s essential features. 
To his mind Christianity differed from all other systems of religion 
by insisting on the necessity of self-sacrifice. We have “ to do the 
Father’s will ” regardless of all consequences to ourselves, as the 
condition of happiness, and the Great Teacher himself sealed these 
doctrines which shine from almost every page of the New Testament 
by the Saviour offering up His own life. This is precisely what 
science, as he had endeavoured to trace it, was now teaching. A 
wiser Power than any science had as yet been able to fathom was 
directing all things to some far-away object, to us unknown ; not for 
the individual benefit of anything, except in so far as it was in har¬ 
mony with this Power, holding all things together for good in spite 
of the seeming clashings of individual interest, and he was assured 
that the time would come when evolutionists, and especially those 
who advocated the theory of natural selection, would come to be 
