The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-11 00:00:00

THE IiARYEST.

THE PoTATei DISEASE.---WORCESTER,
Wednesday.—The weather this week has been glorious,
and the harvest has already partially commenced in fa'
vourable situation in this county and in Gloucester-
shire. Next week, with continued fine weather,
wheat and barley cutting will become general. The
potatoe disease, I am sorry to report,i
has madets
appearance, and is extending its ravages. Pot"
toes are cheap, and will continue so, as many parties
are getting up the root and disposing of them es
fast as they can. Dr. Turley, of Worcester, who per
a great deal of attention to meteorological subjects,
and has occupied some time in investigating the
racter of the potato failure, reports that the potato
bearing a haulm of the darkest green colour, is
being consequently of the greatest specific gravity,
.15
the only kind that will sustain the shuck of the Ole'
ease. He considers the term disease as a misnomer,
for that is merely an absence of vitality, in the blood or
sap of the plant, which, failing to receive its necessary
amount of electricity from the. air, constituted ns it now is
AO deficient of that quality, returns to the tuber as Welt
or poisonous matter, and .he vitality of the tuber thus
unsupported perishes. lie deems toe only possible re-
medy to lie in the arresting of the downward progress
of the sap before it reaches the tuber, either by lining,'
diately pulling up the haulms, or cutting them off close
to the earth. This remedy is not a new one ; Man;
parties state that they have tried it and not succeed On ;
but it will be found that in all cases where the
haulms have been cut and the tubers have afterwards
proved to be diseased, the fault lay in the delay of
the application of the remedy: The moment that the
haulm show symptoms of being affected, they should he
cut off before the vitiated sap can reach the tuber. 17
this means Dr. Turley maintains that millions of poop
weight of this valuable esculent may be saved to the
potato growers in his own neighbourhood.
Til STATE OF THE CROPS.--Gardeners Chroniclecon'
tains tabular returns of the api, qrancci ~f the crops fro,laili.
correspondents, in most parts of the kingdom. 7;
hs result of these returns, Luc G.zivenees' Chrow.c t
gives the foitowing summary ;—" It will be seen the f
there is unusual promise of an abundant proil batter
wheat, and that oats and barley are good, much bette.
than the very dry cold seed time led most of us to anticllt
pate—that beans are very generally injured by gg,
and fly in the south—that the hay crop is unuslyi__J„
light, and much of it badly harvested—that the gre;
crops generally promise well—and that there ig alta
general and earlier complaint of the potato disea!, t"'"
there has been for several past ye %rs. A rapid journheie
northwards from London and through several °f t •
e ,stern counties of Scotland enable us to add our test::
many to that of correspondents in Fufeshire, the 14of
t•iians, and Berwickshire, as to the magnificent crops
a'l kinds which cover the ground. The turnips alrestal;
very generally hide the land ; the wheat is fine, end nil
oats and barley are very good. Crops, too, are mire
forward as to ripeness in the Lothians and in Fires,
than in the northern and central counties of England...
WESTMORELAND.--rhe reports of growing crops c°-;
tin le satisfactory. In this district the wes;her has been
broken during the last few days, but there have be
lutes vela of sunshine.—Kendal Mercury.