The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-08-31 00:00:00

THE POTATOE CROPS.

The Londonderry Sentinel says that the panic about
the potatoes in that district has in a great measure sub-
sided, for though the disease has 'made its appearance, it
is in a much less virulent form than last year. Neither
is it nearly so general, for in the greater part of the county
of Antrim it has scarcely appeared at all, and still less in
the south of Ireland.

THE POTATOES IN HAM PSH TUE.—A correspondent of
the London Times, who gives his name, says:—" I can
state, as a positive fact, that I have visited Hampshire for
the last six weeks, and made it my business to examine
and inquire particularly, in more than 100 cases, into the
present state of this useful vegetable, from the small
cottager to the large grower, from one extremity of the
county to the other, and have found all in a flourishing
and sound state ; in addition to which the crops of corn
are most abundant, and in gotid condition. Practical
farmers, of good information, assured me that this year's
produce is full one-third more than the last ; and, according
to the price they are now obtaining for wheat, bread ought
to he sold at this time at 7d. per 41b. loaf."
POTATOE DISEASE.—The potatoes in several parts of
Lancashire are said to be exhibiting undoubted signs of
disease, but so far as we can learn, there is no ground for
believing that there is anything like the appearance of a
general failure, as some interested parties reported there
is. On the contrary, most of the accounts we have seen
represent the crop of potatoes in all parts of the country
to be of the most promising character. It is said that the
disease has made its appearance in Ireland. A private
letter received this morning (say the Times of Thursday),
from a respectable firm at Westport, in Ireland, contains
the following paragraph :—" The potatoe disease has sud-
denly reappeared here this week, and they are rotting fast.
We have similar reports from other parts." We shall be
sorry if the reports are confirmed.
CURIOUS.—In the year 1844, a person in the immediate
vicinity of this town planted a quantity of potatoes upon
ground which, on the following year, he formed into a
grass plot. The potatoes, however, had not been very
carefully taken up, and a considerable number of tops
made their appearance in the following year amongst the
grass, where they were suffered to remain with the excep-
tion of the tops being pulled off. Last year the tops again
made their appearance in increased numberS, and although
the disease, so prevalent amongst potatoes, destroyed every
crop around them, they flourished in luxuriance ; and even
after having remained in the ground undisturbed through
three successive winters they have this season' again pro-
duced a crop of fine healthy bulbs.— Whitehai,en

POTATOES IN CHESHIRE.—There are some undoubted
signs of the unwelcome disease; but there is not so much
of it, in the worst cases, as to justify the attempt which
certain of the growers and market salesmen are making to
get up the prices of potatoes in Manchester market.
There is, however, enough of it to make the growers of
potatoes very careful in storing them away for winter use.
They should be well dried, and stored in a dry place,
.where currents of air can go through them if possible. In
1845, more of them perished in the pits and other storing
places, during winter, than in the ground before getting
time. The growers are not ready to acknowledge the
superiority of the present crop of potatoes ; but it is un-
questionably from a fourth to a third above that of an
average of years. That is in quantity of produce from a
given space of ground. As to quality, every mouth, with
a taste and a tongue in it, can judge and tell. If Doctor
Marsbam (" Potato Dick," as he is ill-naturedly called
at Oxford) could be right at any time in saying, as he did
say, that live millions of the English people rejoice upon
potatoes, he might say so this year, and use the verb in
its literal and happy sense ; for they have not only reason
to rejoice upon an abundant supply of good potatoes, but
upon the equally abundant supply of good corn.—Man-
chester Paper.
___

THE POrATo.—The confidence of the farmers in the
ultimate recovery of the potato has been so much restored,
that they express their determination to plant a much
larger breadth next year than they did this season. Early
planting in reference to the potato will become general
throughout the country, owing to the superiority, for the
last few years, of the early over the late gardens. It can-
not be denied that the late gardens have suffered much
within the last few days. The cold north wind and frost
which prevailed on Sunday and Sunday night did them
much injury. The general impression is that the pota-
toes were blighted on three several occasions this year;
the two former attacks they recovered more or less (no
inconsiderable evidence of the reviving strength of the
plant), but the latest attack has been the severest. It
should, however, be known that the quantity of late pota-
toes is as nothing compared with that of ordinary years.
A clergyman, who arrived in Cork on Monday evening by
the mail from Dublin, speaks despondingly of the late
potatoes through the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary,
but he added, " you, will not see five potato gardens where
you might have observed five thousand before. The
whole country is teeming with turnips and vegetables,
which is a most Providential circumstance." The quan-
tity of turnips, cabbages and parsnips planted for miles
through this country is very great. The gardens from
which potatoes had been dug are now green and
luxuriant with vegetable cultivation. It is worthy of
notice that in many instances the potatoes reared from
foreign seed have thriven better this year than our own.
Mr. James Tobin, of Rocklodge, planted some Newfound-
land potatoes in the spring of this year, and he had a
most abundant and excellent produce. When the field
in which they were planted was attacked by the blight,
early. in August, those potatoes showed scarcely any sign
of injury, while the Irish quarries growing near them had
the leaves withered and burnt up. The " white potatoes"
have been the greatest sufferers. In a field adjoining the
city, in which many varieties of potato were planted, in-
cluding the foreign, the white potato may be said to be
the only kind that was injured. Several gentlemen in
different parts of the country planted potatoes from the
seed, but they were as much injured by the blight as any
other species. Mr. Jennings, of Glasheen, put in some
decayed potatoes in the spring of the year, merely for

sake of experiment ; indeed they were so far gone that the
men sticking them used to say, "it. was a pity to waste
ground on such trash." What has been the result?
Why, these rotten potatoes have produced a sound and
abundant crop, and some of the largest in the entire
garden. In more instances than this the very same
result has been witnessed. Although the blight has
appeared this year, it was only.what was expected. In
fact, the farmers say that the potatoes have grown this
season infinitely better than they expected, and that it
would be " unnatural" to expect that " the blight" which
destroyed the entire crop one year would wholly disappear
the-ensuing one.—Cork Constitution.