Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1858-07-22
From the Buffalo Commercial, juno %.
The Potato ROt..Ils Cause and
Cure-.Mr. .Hendcrs6n,s DiscOv-
cries..

i Cures.Mr.t DEScOv.
cries.
4 Ever since the disease known as the po-
tato rot first appeared, various hypothesis
! have been offered as to its cause and cure.
i A malady attacking an esculent so impor-
.tant and forming so large a portion
of our daily food, was at once recognized
as national disaster, and the researches
of scientific men was directed to its study.
/ Up to the present time no satisfactory the
ory has been promulgated. In giving pub
licity to that which we are about to notice,
we shall confne ourselves mostly to What
has been done by actual experiment, and
to the legitimate conclusions which induc-
tive reasoning from those experiments af-
fords. Our personal knowledge is confined
in the following facts:
On the morning of the oath of June,
Mr.. Alexander Henderson, of this city,
left ct our office glass jar containing a
sound and healthy potato plant, covered
in by perforated paper so as to afford it
air. He had placed it there at A. NJ,
and with it were confined some sixor eight
insects, which Mr.. II. believes to be the
source of the potato rot. The insect itself
we cannot describe scientifically. 1t is
about half the size of the common house
| fly, of browns color, has six legs, two
pairs of light diaphanous wings, two an
tense, and long strong probocis. Mr. H..
thinks it is the Phytocoris, but is not pos
tive as to that. At the end of twenty
four hours the plant was evidently diseased.
The insect was actively engaged upon its
various portions, which became brown and
mouldy in the leaf, while the stalks in the
course of two or three days suffered pu-
trecent change, until, on the 2sth, some of
them fell over by their own weight, the
stalk being swollen and softened, in some
places quite to a jelly Of a siekly green col
or. This process, Mr.. Henderson informs
us, takes place uniformly, but most rapidly
when the plant is freely watered and ex-
posed to sun and air, as the specimen de-
scribed was not. To all external appear
ance the disease was identical with the or
dinary potato rot asit attacks the vines.
Some pieces of early (this years potatoes,
placed in the jar were also plainly attacked
by therot during the four days Of exposure.
Mr.. Henderson states that he has been
engaged in this research since 1915; that
in 1850 he discovered the bug on the vines,
but thought it was confined to them. Du-
ring the last year he has found it on the
tubers, and watched its effects upon them.
1t appeaas on the vines in from two and a
half to three months after planting, accor-
ding TO soil and manure, a richly manured
soil producing the perfect insect sooner.
The natural history of the insect begins
with the development of the egg. This is
invisible to the naked eye, but can be seen
by the aid of ms, agglutinated to the
skin of the potato. 1t is of an .oblong
form, and is planted with the seed potato.
The egg may be hatched in six days in a
warm, moist place. The entire period of
Development is not settled. Mr.. H. ex-
posed plant to the insect, under proper
precautions, and from the time the young
insect of the next generation obtained his
wings, was three months. The process of
reproduction has been ingeniously watched
by MIR. Henderson. The egg planted with
tie seed potato is hatched, and the young
insect stays in the ground until he gets
wings. In the meantime he is engaged
in singing the tqbers, each perfora-
ton poisoning the root and begetting the
rot. While yet in the ground, and as ear
ly as the tenth day of existence, the young
insects cohabit, and from the great rapidi-
ty with which they propagate, Mr.. H. ar
CUES that the egg is deposited before the
first emergency from the ground, although
in case of cold, wet weather, the insect
sometimes leaves the vines and returns to
the tuber. Only few days are required
for the entire destruction of the vine. The
insect is remarkably industrious, but the
destruction of the vines does not affect the
tuber except to stop its growth.
/ Mr.. Henderson finds ready explanation
for the greater healthfulness of the potato
in sandy soil. He finds that the grains of
sand greatly annoy and cripple the insect,
and as the light soil is heaved up by the
growth of the root, the sand imparts or
falls down, preventing the access of the fly.
In stiff soil the insect readily leaves the
ground through the cracks opened by the
growth of the tuber, and having stung it
comes to the surface and attacks the vine,
especially after heavy showers. During
the past winter Mr.. Henderson has had
thousands of the young insects Matched un-
der glass, and to try their power of mis-
chief has experimental with bugs only a
quarter grown. The the plants exposed
showed unmistakeable signs of disease on
the fourth day.
+ These statements we regard as import
ant. So much is evident. Mr.. Henderson
by means of this insect, produces potato
rot at will. When healthy plant is
shown us, the insect applied, and the rot
follows in four days with unerring certain
ty, there is good reason to suppose that
the problem has been solved.
AS TO cure, Mr.. Henderson thinks there
is no difficulty. five put a stopto the PLAN
ting of the egg with the seed potato, we stop
propagation Of the insect. The eggbeing the
invisible, any means applied should be
thorough, and reach the whole surface of
the root. Mr.. Henderson states that by |
sprinkling quicklime over the potato as it
is cut for planting, the moisture will dis
solve the lime and battle the tubers in a
caustic alkali which. viii. destroy the egg.
AT this time of the year the ravages of the
insect may be prevented by packing the
earth around the tuber firmly with the foot
which will smother the insect. We may
add that it is probably the same insect |