154 
LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE.-WA TER FOR CALVES. 
fleeces are usually long in staple, but a poor de¬ 
fence against a low temperature. It is, therefore, 
a question for the wool-grower of the North to con¬ 
sider whether, in obliging the manufacturer, he 
will not adopt a policy injurious to the constitution 
of his sheep. In a more southern latitude, this con¬ 
sideration is not so important. 
LESSONS FROM EXPERIENCE. 
As you declare your paper “ free and independ¬ 
ent,” I ask the liberty to state my views respecting 
the last clause of your article on the “ Potato Rot,” 
in the December No. of the Agriculturist. The 
clause reads thus : “ Our readers will do us a great 
favor by giving us facts on this interesting subject, 
free from speculation.” 
My experience teaches me the entire futility of 
accumulating facts from ordinary observation on 
this subject; and that the mariner might, in ascer¬ 
taining the velocity of his vessel, as well tie a 
living wild goose to his log-line and throw it over¬ 
board. But the reader will say, and truly too, any 
fool knows better than this. That is true; but in 
this case there is no danger of mistake. The error 
occasioned by the accidental attachment of the 
goose is too manifest to deceive. But one fact, 
among numerous others which might be men¬ 
tioned, will suffice to show that causes not obvious 
have a decided effect in producing, as well as con¬ 
trolling this disease. A friend of mine, whose ve¬ 
racity I am willing to vouch for, relates the follow¬ 
ing facts : In planting his potatoes the last season, 
it so happened that he planted certain portions at 
different times; and in doing this it so happened 
that a portion of the field w r as planted after a heavy 
rain had fallen on the manure after being dropped 
in the hill. The whole was planted with the same 
kind of seed, and otherwise treated alike in every 
other respect—the only difference being this, that 
one portion of the dung was covered as taken from 
the heap, and the other exposed to the atmosphere 
in a drenching rain. The result was, that the po¬ 
tatoes on the portion where the manure was ex¬ 
posed to the atmosphere and the rain were but very 
little affected by the rot, compared with the por¬ 
tions where th& manure was not so exposed. 
Now it is a fact, that I could readily accumulate 
facts from my own experience and others in this 
vicinity, to fill a small volume; and yet every fact 
should go to support a different theory; and this 
assertion is not lightly made. 
Again, I wish to enter my protest against your 
conclusion with regard to the cause of this disease, 
or perhaps I ought to say your opinion as to what 
the disease is. You say it is probably a “ fun¬ 
gus.” My experience, and it is a painful one, 
leaches me very different from this. 1 perfectly 
agree with you as respects the propriety of pub¬ 
lishing long prosy articles on the subject; but as to 
what would constitute such articles, perhaps we 
differ. Of this I do not complain. 
And I ask one more favor of you, and that is to 
state briefly the result to which my own experi¬ 
ence leads me, and of the truth of which I feel not 
3 shadow of doubt. It is caused generally by a 
substance poisonous to the tubers, which poison¬ 
ous substance is eliminated during the decomposi¬ 
tion of organized matter, nearly or quite in contact 
with the potato. I have said generally, because I 
believe any cause that kills the life of the potato 
may produce the same result. By the life of the 
potato I do not mean that kind of life that causes 
its growth, but that which resists decay. Hence, 
then, we see potato vines killed before the tubers 
are half grown, and yet the tubers do not rot. And 
farther, experience teaches me that this poison is 
almost universally eliminated early in the season, 
and dissipated or weakened by the powers of the 
soil too much to affect the tubers, so far as to de¬ 
stroy that kind of life in the potato of which I am 
treating. For ordinary seasons, then, this disease 
cannot take the form of rot. But in seasons like the 
last two, when it is very cold the first part, and the 
last is warm, this peculiar development of the de¬ 
composing geine takes place with great rapidity, 
and furnishes the poison with uncommon strength. 
My experience teaches me that heavy rains may 
dissipate this poison, and prevent its effects in some 
instances. My experience also teaches me that 
if the rains be just enough to wet the ground 
around the tubers, the plants being dry will drink 
in the poison greedily, and thus produce more dis¬ 
astrous effects than dry weather. You may see the 
same effects produced in grain plants, and far more 
commonly, because the plants mature when in com¬ 
mon seasons the poison is strongest. My experi¬ 
ence teaches me that numerous causes of different 
soils, seasons, &c., control the development of 
this poison, and that it requires the most elaborate 
and the most exact experiments to arrive at any 
definite results. 
My experience also teaches me that this disease 
is not that “ new thing under the sun ” which peo¬ 
ple seem generally to believe it. Every potato 
which when boiled gives a foetid smell, is infected 
with this disease; and these we find every year. 
They are poisoned, but the poison is not strong 
enough to kill them. Joseph H. Jenne. 
Peru, Me., March, 1846. 
As our correspondent proposes a continuation of 
this subject, we will wait till he gets through before 
making any comments. He is at least a shrewd 
and curious observer, and we shall be pleased to 
have all the facts of the case within his know¬ 
ledge. Much valuable information is now being 
prepared for publication by scientific men, ap¬ 
pointed by several of the European governments, 
to investigate the disease, among numerous districts 
of farmers. 
Water for Calves. —Accident, last year, taught 
me that calves whose only food is milk, still need a 
supply of water daily I had supposed they were 
fully supplied with liquid in their food. But in 
changing my calves from one lot to another, they 
passed the water trough, where they drank heartily. 
1 acted on the hint, and supplied them daily after¬ 
wards. They drank as often as other cattle, for 
aught I know, though milk remained their main 
food. Perhaps everybody else knows this, but I did 
not, and lest others may not, let me speak a kind 
word for the calves who cannot speak for them¬ 
selves. T. 
Ohio, March, 1846, 
