j 276 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
J CJLY 14. 
forming food for fish of different latitudes, and causing 
those fishing localities so well known on the coasts. 
“ The cod are fed on the hanks of Newfoundland, while 
the shad fatten south, and then travel to deposit their spawn 
where the greater dilution of food is more appropriate for 
j the use of their young. Large portions of these materials, 
washed from the continents, go to feed the Algfe, which, 
unlike many of the land plants, feed all over their sur¬ 
faces, the principal office of their roots being to detain 
them in one particular spot, while their specific gravity 
i being less than that of the surrounding water, causes them 
to maintain their upright position. When ripe, these Algm 
undergo decay, and either in their perfect or organised forms 
furnish food for fishes, Crustacea, and sea-animals. Many 
of the vegetable products of the ocean are used as food for 
birds, while others, in obedience to nature's laws assume the 
kind of organism we notice, thus forming food for men and 
birds. Many of these birds are themselves food for man, 
while others deposit their excretia on the Guano Islands, 
and eventually contribute by the decay of their bodies to 
increase the bulk of these manurial deposits. 
“ The large amount of Algie and sea-grasses washed on 
the eastern shores of continents is another source for the 
restoration to the land of its constituents from the sea. 
The uprisings noted by geologists often present us with 
immense deposits of shells; and the greensand marls of 
New Jersey are filled with shark’s teeth and other oceanic 
remains. The consumption of shell fish is a prolific source 
of restoration from the ocean. The large consumption of 
fish, the amount of oil procured in the whale fisheries, seal 
fisheries, etc., all tend to restore in large quantities these 
proximates, albumen and gelatine, large quantities of carbon, 
phosphates, and all other constituents, which once or oftener 
occupied the land in other forms. 
“ The burning of kelp, the making of muriatic acid and 
soda from sea water, and various other chemical manufactures 
of which the products of the ocean form a part, are an 
active and immense means of restoration. The removal of 
the Guano Islands to the continents are now restoring the 
aggregations collected during a more sparse population of 
the earth, for the use of an increased and more busy throng. 
The nitrogenous portion of all matters carried to the oceans 
as it assumes a gaseous form from decomposition, enters 
nature’s great storehouse, the atmosphere, and while being 
blown across the continents, this ammonia is brought down 
by rains and dews, and is received and retained by the 
carbon and alumina of the soil, until nature in her economy 
shall again solidify and appropriate this muscle-making 
constituent.” 
Potato Murrain. —At a meeting of the Ohemico- 
Agricultural Society of Ulster , a few weeks since, a 
much fuller statement of Professor Bollman’s views 
relative to the prevention of this disease was made than 
has previously appeared in our English journals. 
“ Dr. Hodges directed the attention of the meeting to the 
following communications :— 
“ 1 Office of Committee of Privy Council for Trade, 
Whitehall, May 20, 1853. 
Sir,—I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of 
Privy Council for Trade to transmit to you, for the informa¬ 
tion of the Chemico-Agricultural Society, Belfast, the en¬ 
closed copy of a work, by Professor Bollman, on the potato 
disease, forwarded to the Earl of Clarendon by Her Majesty’s 
minister at St. Petersburgh. 
“ ‘ I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 
“ ‘ J. Emerson Tennant. 
“ ‘ The Secretary of the Chemico-Agricultural Society.’ 
“Dr. Hodges said that a gentleman present (Mr. E. 
M‘Crea), an agricultural student, had translated a portion 
of Professor Bollman’s pamphlet, and made an abstract of 
i the viejvs contained in it. Mr. Bollman’s method of pro¬ 
tecting the potato from the ‘ disease ’ consists in drying the 
potatoes in a kiln or stove previous to planting. M. Boll- 
man has grown potatoes by this method, during the years 
1850-51-52, with perfect success. Another person, named 
! Losovsky, had practised this ipetliod with great success, 
unknown to M. Bollman, since 1847. Both these persons 
discovered the method by accident. Losovsky brought a 
potato home in his pocket in harvest, and laid it by accident 
near a stove, where it remained until spring. Curiosity 
induced him to plant it; it grew well and the produce did 
not show any trace of disease. He treated others in the 
same way in the next season, and has continued to do so 
since. M. Bollman, in his treatise, says—‘ With regard to 
the physiological causes of this phenomenon, I agree with j 
Mr. Schleider in concluding that, in the drying of the potato, 
a part of the starch is set free; the young plants, profiting [ 
by this food produced in the nick of time, are strengthened | 
during a moist and warm season, and, when they attain their j 
growth, produce a good harvest.’ In the German journal, j 
Dorfzeitung, September, 1852, page 331, a person writes the 1 
following : — ‘ Being assured, by many carefully-conducted j 
experiments, that the principle of the disease did not lie in 
the atmosphere, nor depend on any external influence—such i 
as mildew, insects, Ac., I tried to operate on the plant, im¬ 
mediately that it begins to grow. The following is the 
method which appears to me the best ;—A month before 
planting, I spread the potatoes (picked for the purpose) 
over a wide surface. I make beds one foot deep, and seven 
versclioks in circumference, on a piece of clay land, dry, and 
sufficiently elevated. I leave them there till the time of 
planting, turning them occasionally (that the air may reach 
them all), and rejecting any that appear tainted; and when 
the weather is cold I cover the beds with straw. At the end 
of a month I plant these potatoes, slightly dried, in a field, j 
where they grow particularly well, and give an abundant 
harvest, without any trace of disease. The utility of this j 
simple method is proved by five years’ experience.’ M. | 
Bollman, in remarking on this method, thinks it strange 
that they should have to reject those which appear tainted, 
having previously employed the necessary means for pro¬ 
tecting them from disease. ‘ The potatoes should be dried 
quickly, because then the skin soon becomes hard and the 
moisture is retained, which contributes to their develop¬ 
ment. They should be dried immediately after the harvest 
for two reasons :—1. The potatoes, when harvested, contain 
the germ of the disease ; this increases more or less through 
the winter, and the drying, however, destroys it. 2. It is 
found that, during winter, a part of the starch is lost—this 
does not happen when they are quickly dried. In spring 
they should be planted as early as possible.’ Here follow 
experiments:—Mr. Wasiliffsky (a distinguished agricul¬ 
turist) dries the potatoes intended for planting in a smoking- 
house (where hams are dried). He raises them on a wooden 
frame made for the purpose: these grow better, and, after 
harvest, are but slightly tainted, while those not dried are 
very much diseased. Decandolle considers the potato ] 
disease to be a consequence of its artificial cultivation, and 
attributes it to an excess of starch. This is not the fact; it 
being proved, by experiment, that potatoes grown on a fertile 
soil contain less starch than those from a sandy and com¬ 
paratively barren soil, and, probably, than those growing 
naturally in America. It is not owing to the excess of 
starch but to the excess of moisture, and hence the benefit 
arising from drying—(potatoes contain tliree-fourths of their 
weight of water). The drying destroys much of the watery" 
part, without altering the constituents, as starch, fibrin, and 
albumen, and, for this reason, counteracts the disease in the 
early stage of its growth, without any risk to the abundance i 
of the harvest. The circumstances which I have found to 
contribute to the formation of buds are—a warm tempera¬ 
ture, moisture, darkness, presence of carbonic acid, change 
(variety) of temperature, and long-continued drying. The 
way of drying them:—Expose the potatoes soon after har¬ 
vest to a temperature of 45° to 50° r. (133° to 144° f.), 
keeping them at this temperature for four days, avoiding, 
as much as possible, all exhalation , so that the external part 
may be dried and not cooked. After this, keep them in a 
dry place, where the temperature is not less than 3° k. 
(39° i<’.), till the time for planting. You may prepare the 
potatoes in spring before the time of planting. The potato 
may be carbonized without losing the productive faculty, if 
the burning do not extend below the skin. By carbonization 
the starch is changed into gum, another part into dextrine, 
a small part of the last forms sugar, but these changes do 
not at all hinder the future growth of the plant. To dry 
