The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1851-02-15

''' .''lIi IIIHt ~. 900. Hllllf Hr lllhN HlI
along hrru matter requiring dnmonstm.
Ton i seemed Go m an epidemic, which
l1d ii- emNfl. oyi.irncc, lil and death, the
-amr as lhr physical body. This bad brru
seem 100 rhc ca.r- NJ the ST. Mirhnr'-
Fr iir buu0u-wDpi ucr. and other fruits
aud trees which had nearly On least rrr-
'uwmhly, so iIr n- cEpcricucc -hpwcd) been
host The Inlitn was iu lhr same prolica-
mrnii u was undergoing 70 natural decay
rlilrli lnduycrakrn H. genus, Il was an rs-
U'ir--ior whatever might be said Of it origin
iu Carolina IL was certain that Il was indip-
cnous "a the Audps where tho soil and the
climatic varied much from thn.n prevailing
here. Tho Gct ofils product ing brst in na-
Use spi ilut -uil not mlnurrl ariGrmlly,
yls proof chat tlc naiual demands nj thr
ldaut bad been moro properly attended tp
Than uudor lhc common mode of garden and
improved Grld culture, What many ca1bpl
improvement IN the potato such o. giving 20
o larger dian 10 normal portion through cul-
tre gave thc plant the facility To imhbo
5UfWWTU TtT clCWlUI50T ~ own 1l50rEIUi-
lilion. size aud particular formation could
Lnrutufrdi but only at the cNpon.c Of the
health Of the plant The question decided
tbai there was q general failure In the pot,.
tpcrop In Ecuador. aud Pcru-N Sew Eng
loud and 1rclaud-'thon IL wotd bc obvious
that the species was rrhdy TO die out but il
no disease existed Ia the native regions of the
potato, then Il was obvious that moro gene
i
-.all-lI L-lle- - L.
lal,on of healthy description ~ seed from
ihoquarter whore il grew indigenously Then,
II the experiment failed, Il would be- time 10
look ont Tor q substitute for tho potato, lu
various part- Of Nlc>ico- whore Mr. Cushing
had been, hc had never heard the word pul,-
torut
Me- PROCTOR of Don,cr, said, ia h,-
quarter ur the State the farmers had lost
nearly lhc whole Of their crop, and were dc.
pendent op Canada aud Vermont for a sup
ply lp this emergency experiments were
instituted to arrest the disease. One party
chose dry, sandy SOIL and applied alkaline
manulrs, lie potalocs grew well for some
time, aud lac looked for a good crop. but, in
the fall, in many of the hill. hc could find
none az all, aud many in others diseased. lie
failed Ia that instance. In Alctliucn another
experiment was made, \ yellow loan was
chosen, aud no manure was used, aud the
crop was good bclb,r than any of those a..
round Mr. Alnson, of Beverly, had planted
ur meadow GROUND last year but his crop
was hlightcd, Mr. Mason said the cause was
insects aud showed that, az the roots Of the
vines there were sugs, aud a small n.y. like
that which appears about the cucumber, ear
~ in the season that was his theory Of Dis
-r7r- uud hr uirvays cuuiri ruuurrt the tlrraS
with these appearances, Mr. Proctor conclud-
cd 10y explaining the Importance of the qucs-
ton before the meeting as the loss of the po-
tato crop was the heaviest tax on,thc farmer
more than four times the amount of all 9th
er asscssjhcnts.lt was certainly then worthy Of
all the attention that legislators could give
the subject
Hon. Mr. FRENCH, OF Braintrcc, was of
opinion that no one could show a course of
culture that had been universally successful,
or try ouc that could not be proved, by cN
pertinent to have an opposite result. When
the disease came here in 1913 the black pola-
to was the worst affected; aud now this kind
seem, To be- the mosi free of disease. Mr.
French said he had tried plaster To his plants
aud had cut over the vines, aud all his labor
had filled to prevent the rot. The disease
began about the latter end of August. Last
year ON the 23d Of that month, in going over
Que Of his fields, he saw light spot of rcd in
the leaves. .tTon days after, the crop was all
gone. On examining the hill il was found
-tTtvrTtty tttIC CaEr rtTur rTTy vcTC P6IC1piTTy
roltcd. Instead Of hd,ng about 900 bushels
a small basket full, and the tuhrrs very small
themselves, was the only pIodr~c remaining.
In EUROPE aud ia tie. westerly iapt--ei- this
ruuutry, the results had been nearly simiiir
10 his own experience of them, OF reliable
nature, not one Of them. 1t was also mani
fest that the imported potatoes from pcru,and
districts whore the potato was Indigenous did
not withstand the disease any better than the
older cultivated varieties The only thing
that could be- done would tie 10 manage that
the crops should bc harvested before the 2Uth
OF August In doing this it was probable that
II crup would bc gained. Instances were mar
rated by Mr. French to show that the same
treatment had different results. On the whole
however, he did not despair tIat, sooner or
later a cure would be prescribed by nature,
or by the influences Of experimental di,coyc-
ny.
Mr. BARRY, of Hanover spoke from his
own experience of potato culture. Last
Spring he plowed an acre of green-sward that
had lain a long time under grass It was an
ash loan soil. One part was MANFRED with
rutted manure. The whole had plaster APP
piled to it. y gravclly knoll was planted
with Chenangocs, and the remainder with the
Long Reds. The vines grT YER, luxuient-
ly, aud were green long after others had de-
cayed. On the gravelly knoll the potatoes
Nsnrc entirely rotted-excepting bushels -