The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-07-22
The Polntoe IgOt-its Cause nnd
! Cure-HIr. HendcrsOn's Discover

] Offered as to It's cause anu cure. n mala"I ~
tacking an escultnt SO important and forming
SO large portion of our daily food, was at once
recognized as a national disaster, aud the re-
! searching OF scientific meu were directed TO lls
study. Up TO the present time 40 satisfactory
theory has been promulgated la giving pup
! lioily TO that which we are about 10 nouce, we
shall conlinc ourselves mostly to what has been
/ done by actual experimnnt aud TO the Legitimate
conclusions which inducllve reasoning from
those experiments alIords. Our petsonal knowl-
edge is confined IN the following facts:
| On the morning oil the 2ith OF June, Mr. AL
expuder eulofsUG, OF this city, let at our oiilco
u glass far containing sound aud healthy po-
| thtoc paut, covered IN 10y perforated paper so
as to afford air. lie had placed 1t there at a.
! Nj aud with il were confined some six or eight
insects, which Mr.. H. believes 10 be the source
OF the potitoa rot. The insect itself we cannot
describe scientifically 1t is about hall the slze
! of the common house fly, Of brownsh color,
! has six legs two pairs ut light didphanous wings
two ant uu aud long, strong proboscis. Mr'
| IT, thinks il IS The Fay tpcoris, but Is not posi-
tive as to that Al The end OF twenty four hours
the plant was evidently disaasrd. The insect
wos actively engaged upon its various portions,
| which brcumr brown and moulding in the leat,
| while tho stalks i'm th course OF two or three
| days sui red a putCsccnt change, until, ON the
! 28th some of them ltl over by their own weight,
the Stalk being swollen md Soltened, in some pla.
Ccs quite TO Jelly, OF n slckly green color lhlS
process, Mr.. II. Informs us, takes place uniform
iy, but most rapidly when the plant is freely
watered aud exposed to sun aud air. as the spec
| linen described was not. TO all external APP
| pcnruuce the disease was Identical with the or
| binary potutue rot as it attacks the vines. Some
pi, ces Of early (this yoars) potatoes, placed III
the jar, were also plainly attacked by the rot
during the four days of exposure.
! Mr. Henderson states that he has been en-
4 "a IL o.. iltni IN
be discovered the bug on the vines, but thought
il was confined 10 Them Daring the last year
he has found il upon the tubtrs, aud watched
it's effects upon them 1t appears on the vines
in from two and a half to three months after
! planting according to soil and manure, rich
" manurcd soil producing the perfect insec'
sooner
The natural history of the insect begins with
> the dies GOpm'nt OF the egg. Thls IL Invisible To
the naked eye but can be seen by the aid of a
lens, ogglutinated to the skin Of the potntoc. II
: is OF an oblong form, aud is planted with the
, seed potutoe. The egg may be hatched III SIX
days in warm, moist place The entire pert
> Cd of development is not settled, Mr. H. ex-
= posed plant to the insect, under proper pre-
(, cautions, unDl from the time Of the exposure to
4 the time the insect of the next generation OBJ
e tanned his wings was three months. The pro
r cess oi reproduction has been ingeniously watch
t. ed by Mr.. henderson. The egg planted witt
the seed potalur Is Matched, aud the young tnSec
' stays in the ground until he gets wings In th'
y mranlime he is enguCcd In singing the tubers
q "a Gh perturltion poisoning the root and beget
T. ting The rot While yet IN the ground, md al
d early as the tenth day of existence, the youns
y insects cohabit, aud from the great rapidly WIT
&c which they propagate, Mr.. II. argues that The
e egg is deposited before the first EN- rgency from
the ground, although in case of cold, wet wealth
10 er, the insect sometimes leaves tho vines an,