1847 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
113 
arrived at about two-thirds the usual size and com¬ 
menced rotting, and in a few days a large portion of 
them were a rotten mass; but those I planted in April 
fully perfected their growth and remained sound.” He 
states that he has made numerous inquiries through 
Schoharie county, and as far south as Suffolk county, 
Long Island, and the evidence is in favor of early plant¬ 
ing with an “ early kind,” He concludes—“ there ap¬ 
pears to be a period in the early part of the season that 
the potato tops are not affected by the blight; and it 
therefore follows that early planting with an early kind in¬ 
sures the perfection of the tuber before the blight strikes.” 
Lardner Vanuxem, of Bristol, Pa., writes —“ In 
general the rot has not been extensive in this section of 
the country—indeed, it may safely be said that its rava¬ 
ges have been but partial. So also on the opposite side 
of the river in New Jersey, as I have been informed , with 
like soil and similar position, our soil being a light loam, 
underlaid with sand or gravel, readily permeable to 
water, admitting, with few exceptions, of being plowed 
at all times unless frozen; the wells generally from 10 
to 18 feet in depth. * * * I have no doubt that 
early planting is decidedly to be preferred, and is more 
generally practiced, in this section for winter potatoes 
than was the case a few yeax's ago.” 
H. A. Parsons, Buffalo, attributes’the disease to the 
constitutional decline of the potato. A communication 
of his in reference to the subject was given in our Jan¬ 
uary number', together with some editorial remarks. In 
those l'emarks we observed that the older varieties, so 
far as our knowledge extended, did not appear to be 
more subject to the disease than those lately originated, 
and cited the long-reds, or “ merinos,” known as an old 
yariety, as being generally moi'e exempt from attack 
than others. In relation to this, Mr. Parsons, in a 
communication received since the former one was pub¬ 
lished, observes— 
“ What you state in regax-d to the long-reds or meri¬ 
nos is not verified by nay experience and observation. I 
raised the past summer 60 bushels of mei*inos, which, 
when dug, were remarkable clean and bright, and not a 
particle of disease pei’ceptible except in one hill. They 
were put under a dry shed, and in three weeks the whole 
mass was so affected with the disease that, notwith¬ 
standing many experiments and efforts to arrest it, I did 
not ultimately save six. bushels of sound ones out of the 
sixty. They l-otted with amazing rapidity, and the 
effluvia arising from them was very offensive. I have 
been in the habit of examining almost daily for four 
months past, the potatoes brought to this city in the 
market wagons from the surrounding country. They 
come more or less from five counties, viz:—Ei*ie, 
Niagara, Genesee, Wyoming and Chautauque. Every 
load of merinos that I have yet seen, has exhibited 
symptoms of the rot; and so of nearly all other varie¬ 
ties. Occasionally a load has been brought in that ap¬ 
peared fair and sound, and the answers made to my in¬ 
quiries have been that they grew on new land, or wei’e 
a new and extraordinarily fine variety, &c. Every load 
of good ones would be set off by some extra story as 
to the.why and wherefore—implying that disease was 
the established rule, and health the rare exception.” 
Thomas Close, of Portchester, Westchester County, 
N. Y., observes that the potato crop in his vicinity was 
visited with two distinct and separate attacks, the first 
occurring the last week in July, and the second about 
the 20th of August. We have before mentioned that 
the same circumstances in regard to the disease were 
noticed in this neighborhood, and we have heard of them 
in other sections. Mr. Close observes that the second 
attack must have been much more severe than the first, 
u as nearly all the earlier potatoes perished in this at¬ 
tack which escaped the first; while the late planted 
crops, which were too young to feel much of the July 
attack, and which continued flourishing till about the 20th 
of August, were then nearly all exterminated.” But ho 
states that the few potatoes which “ escaped the two 
pestilential periods, have kept as well as if nothing unu¬ 
sual had happened.” 
Mr. Close attaches much importance to these facts. 
“ If,” says he, u they do not point us dii’ectly to the 
cause of the disease, they show at least that many 
things to which it has so often been ascribed, could have 
had no share in its production. A clear inference is, 
that whatever may have been the cause of the mischief, 
it must have been very sudden in its onset, and very 
transient in duration. * * * This seems enthely to 
set at rest all the conjectures respecting the agency of 
insects and of fungus in the production of the disease. 
The most fanciful imagination can form no conception of 
an inject attack so sudden, so overwhelming, and yet so 
capricious and evanescent as this must have been to 
accord with known facts; while the fungus, that so 
many have detected in the decaying tuber, is obviously 
an effect and not a cause of the decomposition. Nor is 
there any better grounds for ascribing the disease to 
the ordinary but evei*-varying states of the atmosphere 
depending on temperatux*e, or too much or too little rain. 
These are ordinary conditions, but surely it requires ex¬ 
traordinary ones to cause that to happen to the potato 
now, for the first time, which has never happened to it 
until the commencement of the present epidemic.” 
The conclusion to which Mr. Close arrives from all 
these facts and circumstances is, that the cause of the 
malady in question “ belongs to that class of mysterious 
agencies to which the epidemic diseases of the animal 
world have always been asci-ibed.” He thinks, how¬ 
ever, that “ though the specific cause of this malady 
may be unknown, or if known entirely beyond our con¬ 
trol, it does not follow that the disease itself may not 
be mitigated by carefully studying the laws by which its 
action seems to be governed. Many observations have 
shown that very early planted potatoes are much less 
liable to the disease than later crops. In deep and 
moist soils, and grounds recently and freely manured 
from the barn-yard, the disease has been found far more 
destructive than on dryer or thinner soils, or where sa¬ 
line substances have been the fertilizers used.” 
Conclusion .—It will be noticed that a large portion 
of the communications speak of early planting as hav¬ 
ing been more successful than late, and such, with a 
few exceptions, is the nature of the testimony we have 
received during the three last years. Though we do 
not regard early planting as a specific against tha 
disease, we think we are safe in recommending its adop¬ 
tion. There is no doubt that in this country, thus far. 
the early planted crops have generally succeeded best. 
We attribute this success solely to the crops having 
reached maturity, or nearly reached it, before the dis¬ 
ease manifested itself. Had the disease occui'red at such 
a period that the early-planted, potatoes would have 
been in the same stage as the later-planted ones have 
been, at the time of their being attacked, we presume 
they would have fared alike. Unless the attack should 
occur earlier the coming season than it has in former 
years, we shall look for the same advantages from early 
planting as have been before obtained. It may be pro¬ 
per to l'emark that in Europe, so far as we can learn, 
no particular benefits have been derived from early plant¬ 
ing. Fall and winter planting has been resorted to in 
order to have the growth of the potatoes as forward as 
practicable the next season; but they have fared no 
better, so far as regai’ds the disease, than others. The 
reason is the attack has occurred there at an earlier 
stage of the plant than it has here. At what precise 
time it may appear the coming season is more than any 
one can tell. Its appearance last year was considera¬ 
bly earlier than in any former one; still, judging by the 
past, we are decidedly of the opinion that early planting 
is safest in this counti’y. 
