The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1844-12-09
The Farmer.
= ,,nnr OF rnE DISEASE IN POTATOES.

..,,,n any communication objecting to the views
M e,,Ron of the cause of the disease in the potato,
..jrich subsequent examinations have only tended
N ,,,of,a in my own mlnd, resumed the nvestiga-
II y. ,f,ba subject. The results now offer TO you
~ ,,DoN,,,on have first to notice the idea that
a III, 5.eo.e arises from worms which are found in
~ A,dsc,,ed poato-and remark,
Il, that the worms ARC the same which are found
;,,I rotten potatoes, from whatever cause the decay
X ny arise.
81, the potato decays previous to the worms ap
Earring for the worms nre never found in the sound
Il tOftae potato, eating their way in, or deposting
81 Isr eggs, nor have ever seensthe worms in that
,,t oltbe potato in which the fungus has already
commenced vcgetating; it is only in the most rotten
nat that the worms exist after the fungus has caused
e ibis decay
81, salt instantly kills these worms, as any one
NAV satisfy themselves, with the assistance of the
cOumon compound microscope.
UGdcr he full impression Of the existence of the
hugain the poatoe, two questions present them
selves
it, Is the fungus the OF the decay or mere
II growth on the luber already diseased from some
n obn cause?-and
3D. When and in what part of the plant the dis
a.e originates, how is it propagated and dssemi-
nnd-
The probability is that the fungus is the cause Of
The dense-or the fungus appears the skin Of the
potato, and can be traced by its gradually dark color
Tsanling from the outside by degrees into the
sound inside,the outside fungus developing itself first,
.d n,odncin1 slin,a and rnttapnasa ,.Io
Wrmans firm and sound. If the fungus resulted
ta&e potato first becoming rotten, and thus form
n ghrlblo circumstances for it's vegetation then the
FrH1nion is that we should occasionally, although
Tlps rarely find parts Of the potatoe rotten i0ih-
ou Me Surgus which !, ut least have never yet seen.
have often heaps OF rotten potatoes, without
ever before observing this peculiar fungus, which, on
account of ia smell cannot be mistaken II this was
therefore disease merely affecting the rotten pola-
10 and not the sound one, it would have been long
goand much more often observed. DrWallroth ,an
excellent German botanist,w who appears TO have close
ga't:d the fungus family, observes in the Linnea,
h5Floica periodical published in Germany,y vol
HOr 1912 that he has asccrained the disease call
dlhere the Potato scd5, or part--a kind Of sw eng
aiumor, ending in rotenness-to be n species Of
'nb'erranean fungus, which he calls Ery6e su5ter-
ra7eon, and Of which he gives long scientific des.
c'PtOn am not sufficiently versed n this subject,
Mdeclde whether this description agrees exactly
with the disease at present under discussion, but il
'Dpers to me to differ in several particulars.
The second question, to the origin and propaga-
UON OF this fungus, is which presents great diff
eu1Ies IN its solution These arise partly from the
knowledge OF the nronn1ution IF bn ba
@9yet in lis infancy, and partly from the want Of
means Of pursuing the study of this microscopic sub
JET FoPery. From the almost universal accounts
"Ue tops of the plants having first died down. and
"'' Indicated the disease, it has suggested itself to
me- even ills fungus is really subterranean spe-
"es'wh'her has not been propngated and dissent
'eu ny spores floating in the atmosphere and attach
Wy themselves with the stale Of the potato, that
'ege'a''ng and extending themselves downwards I'M
'"ey reached the point Of junction with The TUDOR,
"c'e producing decay, and the death Of the upper
part Of the vegetable, and afterwards disseminating
themselves through the tuber
AParaIIe to this probably exists in the mushroom,
a'u"S0' which is naturally produced from horse
I''ppns'' when by being kept dry for consdern-
VIC 'he' they have arrived at a favorable state for
"e development, OF the spores. These spores have
tV'aOy attached themselves to the stems of the hay
"''" mas been eaten by the horse, have passed
Ivy" us stomach and remained in nm inert state,
'1'ofaO'e circumstances have produced theii de-
''OpmeNt in the droppings.
regret that had not commenced this inyes,iga-
wv" early enough to have examined the stalk and its
s."''O" with the tuber, with the microscope, on the
% appearance of lis dropping, as all the proof now
' expected from experiments, can only be of a
S''"e character however, here are such results
"'have obtained
' one OF those much diseased potatoes was cut
"'''eS; each half was placed on half sound po,a-
w." perfect contact, placed under bell glass in a
sa "POa'k atmosphere, temperature 81 to So. In
Inc sound potato was no, in the slightest de-
-, contaminated with the fungus or worms.
,,. whole diseased potato, covered with black
''' Was placed under glass, in the same circum-
'' as experiment No. 1, in contact with whole
a. potato The filth day the sound potato remain
contaminated and without worms.
ado. whole and much diseased potato was bur
inches below the soil, which was damp but not