162 LIFE OF DEAN BUCKLAND. [ch. vi. 
gone by. But I was desirous to exhibit the result of my 
experiment, which I had mainly undertaken for the pur¬ 
pose of encouraging others in my neighbourhood to follow 
my example. 
“ Believe me, dear Sir, 
“ Very faithfully yours, 
“ Robert Peel. 
“ Whitehall, January 13th, 1842.” 
It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that, in 1845, 
“ famine was sore in the land.” The potato disease had 
broken out with great virulence, and it was suddenly found 
that this crop was as important as the wheat crop. Sir 
Robert Peel conferred anxiously with Buckland at this 
important crisis, which both these pre-eminently practical 
men had foreseen. When in 1845 the potato disease 
assumed alarming proportions, Buckland devoted himself 
vigorously to the task of ascertaining the causes and 
remedies for this severe blow to agricultural prospects. 
Plaving mastered all the facts he could collect by per¬ 
sonal experiment, observation, and inquiry, he read a 
lecture on the subject before the Ashmolean Society at 
Oxford on November 5th, 1845. He afterwards, at very 
considerable expense, printed his remarks and distributed 
them throughout the whole of England, sending a copy 
to the mayor or civil authority of every town, village, and 
hamlet. Not only did he give practical advice on the best 
means of combating the existing evil ; he also indicated the 
substances which formed the best substitutes for potatoes 
among the poorer classes, by whom the failure of this 
useful vegetable was most severely felt. His exertions in 
this cause were fully appreciated, and conferred much 
