The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-31 00:00:00

The following communication has alao been sent to
The Tima for publication :

May I ask the favour of. short space in your columns for
the dissemination of advice as to the protection of the sound
potato whass iq contact with the dispeased, partteilarly when
Wowed id throws or otherwise ? As the method la most simple
and isespensive, the present Is. fitting time lofts applica-
tion Bose few years since 'adopted it with ukialliwg success
in Eager, and afterwards in Kent.
When the crop Is gathered the apparently sound and good
are, of course, selected from the diseased, either for im-
mediate disposal or for storing by clamp, or otherwise, but a
portion of the letter in its early stage will invariably escape
detection and he mired with the sound, to their animals', if
not speedy, ruin. •

_
In 7 lime, pulverised, should be thinly sprinkled over
every layer of the clamp. and the petatoes—say to the spring,
or when required for use or sale—remain invariably 1.. the
same state as when stored, the time acting as • preventive
of Infection by contact. I should say • bushel to sir pecks
of lime would be amply sufficient for a clamp the produce
of an acre and • moderate crop.
This plan was first brought under my notice by the late
Mr. Muskat, a most scientific and eminent agriculturist,
then residing our Bury St. Edmund's, and managing estates
for the late Duke of Norfolk-1 am, do., it.
Ilampstead, Aug. 23.

In connection with one of the letters, Dr. Hooker
writes to The Times

Will you have the goodness to Insert the following answers
to " Rustic's" ot4ect•one to my proposed partial substitutes
for the failing potato crop.
First, he regards the method of preserving the starch of
the potato for food as of too scientific • nature for agricul-
tural labourer. It is difficult to imagine a simpler process
than grating potatoes and washing the starch; nor did the
Suffolk vlllagers in 1846 find any difficulty in putting it in
practice:.
..
• -•- • • •

" Bastin" suggests that the diseased tubers had bette
be boiled for pigs, to which I answer that in 1846, when the
complaint was general, even Irish pigs rejected them.

With regard to beet-rot, "Bustle " imagines that it
would not be very palatable. Let me assure him from ex-
perience that his imagination hex deceived hun, and let
me refer him to Mr. Wrench's letter in the same column
with his own for an excedent method of preparing it for
food. .

•• Rustic's" objection to the nee of haricot+. that they are
not to be found In the labourer's garden, is not to the point.
My recommendation vu that this nutritious, excellent, and
extremely cheap food should be Imported from abroad.

Lastly, with respect to turnip-tops. (did not suggest that
the standing turnips should be topped, but that turnip-tops,
which are habitually thrown away by people of all classes,
should be used for the relief of the poor —Your obedient
servant, Joe. D. Ilotdigls.
Royal Gardens, Kew, Aug, 26.

Additional information from different parts of the
country seems to indicate an all but universal pre-
valence of the potato disease. The Chamber of Agri-
culture Journal thus summarises a series of reports
with regard to the English counties:—

In the fen parts of Cambridgeshire the potatoes every-
where are smitten wilt the disease in Cheshire they are
very bad; In Cornwall the rot has spread most extensively,
and half an average crop will be. liberal estimate ;in Der-
byshire the disease is spreading :In Dorsetehire the crop is
reported to be lull of disease; in Durham cases are already
being talked of; in Essex the potatoes are almost an entire
failure, the blight spreading with dire effect; in West Glou-
cestershire the crop is badly diseased In Shropshire and
Worcestershire the disease prevails to en alarming cutout; in
Bast Herefordshire the rot is spreading with a rapidity which
threatens the destruction of the greater part of the crop; in
North Lancashire the disease in the Fyisib district has set in
most virulently, and almost finished the potatoes in the gar-
don.; in Leicestershire the potatoes are diseased in many
place; In South Lincolnshire whole crops are destroyed, and
there will not bee fourth of an average from Wisbeach to
Spalding, and from Boston to Deeping ; in Nottinghamshire
the potatoes are partially diseased in many parts of the
county, especially to the north; in Oxfordshire, on some of
the deeper soils, symptoms of disease have shown themselves;
In Bomersetshire the crop Is very much diseased : in Sussex
the blight has appeared, the dlsealle has set in severely; in
Carmarthenshire the potatoes are a deal Mime.