360 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
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New-Yorls, Thursday, August 16. 
jgy This paper is never sent where it is 
not considered paid for—and is in all cases 
stopped ivhen the subscription runs out. 
Notice. —Til our next issue, No. 102, we 
shall make an announcement of special in¬ 
terest to all our subscribers, which we trust 
they will be careful to notice; and should 
that number chance to be miscarried by 
mail, send to the office for a duplicate. 
THE POTATO DISEASE. 
Potatoes are now selling in this market 
cheaper than we find them qujptod at any 
time last season, and are still rapidly falling. 
We like to see the prices of produce at such 
rate's as shall abundantly remunerate the 
cost of production, yet when potatoes are 
kept up to a dollar and a half a bushel by 
scarcity, we are glad to see signs of coming 
plenty. The high rates of last season were 
produced by a scanty supply, and farmers 
have been afflicted by the “ hard times ” as 
much as every body else. 
We see that the blight is again making its 
appearance ; though the late period at which 
it comes, and the fine growth already at¬ 
tained, together with the great number of 
acres planted, lead to no serious apprehen¬ 
sions of a crop deficient even to the ordinary 
amount. 
Numerous theories have been invented to 
account for this disease, and most of them, 
in some shape or other, are still afloat. The 
fact that there are so many of these hypoth¬ 
eses is, of itself, presumptive evidence that 
the true cause of the potato malady is as far 
as ever from being understood. 
The theory that has been most in vogue 
is, that the potato is “ running outthat its 
constitution had been weakened by inces¬ 
santly breeding from slips instead of from 
the seed. It is a well known fact that, when 
we propagate a plant by grafting, we do ac¬ 
tually extend and increase the same original 
body; that the scions of the Esopus Spitzen- 
burgh, for instance, wherever they may be 
growing, are truly members of the original 
tree ; and it is natural to infer that there 
will be a period assigned to their lives, as 
there is to that of the parent stock ; that the 
life-time of the two will not differ very ma¬ 
terially ; and that, at some future time, this 
variety will become extinct. From the man¬ 
ner in which we propagate the potato, this 
is equally true of it. The Mercer of this 
year, is not the descendant of the original 
Mercer, but is a true member of its body ; 
and so it seems just to conclude that it must 
be subject to the condition of old age, as an 
individual plant is, and must some day per¬ 
ish and be no longer known as a variety. 
A second theory is that of Liebig, who 
attributes this, with other diseases—such as 
the eruptive fevers of man and the conta¬ 
gious disorders among animals—each to its 
own proper ferment. His theory is, that 
these ferments, such as those of small-pox, 
measles, scarlet fever, etc., once taken into 
the system, must go through a given course, 
and that they will do this in a given time ; 
that these fermentations effect only changes 
of arrangement in the existing elements of 
the blood ; that these changes are not incon¬ 
sistent with the highest condition of health, 
and that after they have been once effected, 
the tendency is slowly to revert to the origi¬ 
nal unfermented condition ; so that men may 
have these diseases to a limited extent at 
subsequent times. He considers the poison 
of a snake bite of the same nature, while 
that of hydrophobia he supposes always ef¬ 
fects a fermentation in the blood analogous 
to putrefaction, and which is, consequently, 
necessarily fatal. It is in accordance with 
this hypothesis that physicians are in the 
habit of remarking of a person sick with any 
of the first-mentioned diseases, that if he 
lives beyond a certain day, he will recover, 
while no such hopes can be entertained of 
those unfortunates affected with hydropho¬ 
bia. Horse distemper is one of this class of 
diseases; and Liebig has enumerated the 
potato malady among the rest, and presumes 
it to depend on a like epidemic cause. 
This disease has also been attributed to 
planting too deep, or too shallow ; to the 
sting of insects ; to worms in the stalk ; to a 
wet, clayey soil; to a dry, sandy one; 
to the lack of humus ; to deficiency of min¬ 
eral ingredients, or of salt in the soil; but 
as none of these theories have been estab¬ 
lished by any proofs, we pass them by. The 
evidences in their favor, as yet, have only 
shown that certain processes of culture ex¬ 
ert a favorable influence on the growth of 
this plant, and we think that all these practi¬ 
cal facts may be very conveniently arranged 
under the two theories we have enumerated. 
There is less objection to doing so, as 
they do not necessarily clash with each 
other; that is, some of our present varieties 
may be failing of old age, and thus more 
subject to the epidemic influence—as the old 
and the feeble are well known to fail first 
under circumstances of exposure. 
But. we do not believe that the first of 
these theories is yet tenable. We still lack 
the evidence to assert that any varieties of 
the potato have ever perished of old age. It 
is yet to be proved that it is not as natu¬ 
ral to this plant to multiply by scions as by 
seed, or that this kind of breeding may not 
go on indefinitely. We lack the evidence 
to assert that any of the varieties of the po¬ 
tato have ever perised of old age, or that 
there is any well established relation be¬ 
tween the age of a variety and its qualities, 
as there is known to be in the flesh of ani¬ 
mals ; or that there is any such connection 
between the age of a variety and its liability 
to rot, as exists between the period of child¬ 
hood and scarlet fever. Yet such an undis¬ 
covered relation may exist, for it would be 
strange if a life time were not assigned here 
as every where else in animate nature ; and 
it is hardly to be supposed that by a change 
of stock a scion should escape so general a 
law. It was at one time imagined that the 
transfusion of the blood of a young animal 
into the veins of an old one would rejuve¬ 
nate it, but it is unnecessary ta say, that 
this anticipation was never realized. 
As no specific has ever been discovered 
for the potato disease, we are lelt to the 
study of such practices as may increase the 
vigor of the plant. We should suppose a 
priori, that high manuring would be one of 
these, but it is very generally agreed among 
farmers that fermenting manures have in¬ 
creased the evil, and we are left to the appli¬ 
cation of ashes and the special mineral ma¬ 
nures. It can not be the ammonia of stable- 
manure that does the mischief, for we plant¬ 
ed a crop, in 1853, on ground to which as 
thick a dressing of wood shavings as could 
be plowed under by forking them into the 
furrows, had been given the preceding fall, 
and we supplied the crop well with wood 
ashes, and yet it signally failed, while crops 
around it partially succeeded with simple 
dressings of wood ashes. The application 
of guano to potatoes is quite generally and 
successfully practiced. 
In 1846, Dr. Klotzsch, of Prussia, pro¬ 
posed a remedy for the potato disease, viz : 
“ In the 5th, 6th and 7th weeks after setting 
the tubers, or at a time when the plants 
reach the hight of six to nine inches above 
the soil, pinch off the extreme points of the 
branches or twigs to the extent of half an 
inch downwards, and repeat this on every 
branch or twig in the 10th or 11th week, no 
matter at what time of day.” 
In explanation of this process, it is the 
fact that, as a plant ripens and perfects its 
fruit, the vigor and strength of the stalk be¬ 
comes concentrated in the seed, so that if 
it stands unharvested until it is .fully ripe, 
the stalk is worthless for feed. We believe 
it is for certain prudential considerations 
connected with the straw, that harvesting 
before fully ripe is usually advocated. If 
the perfection of seed, then, exhausts, where 
this product is of no worth, why should a 
plant be allowed to go to seed? We cut 
grass for hay when the stalk is in its prime, 
since, if allowed to stand, the seed is perfect¬ 
ed at the expense of the stalk. Why then 
should we not follow out the same plan with 
the potato, and by abrogating a worthless 
though expensive process by which it at¬ 
tempts to reproduce itself, encourage the 
other method of reproduction—the formation 
of tubers. This is in conformity with an 
operation of established utility, and for a 
long time practiced on animals. The Prus¬ 
sian treatment of the potato amounts to no¬ 
thing more than this operation—preventing 
fructifying, and thereby increasing the de¬ 
velopment of the individual by picking off 
the germs of the flower-buds. 
In the season of 1852, we practiced this 
operation, at the time of hoeing, on an acre 
