New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-05-23

nrovent the disease He takes the ground that the
disease in rather an accompaniment Inan " o'
or, in other words, that it IL aue 10 ccr '''
conditions such excessive moisture an" P ,;I
lar changes or stages of temperature WHICH, VIZ"
weakening the plant render it an easy prey 10 'no
f,rcns which is developed simultaneously. Afcoiu-
inc n Mr.. Hibberd, whenever there are sudden ahQ
nositye alterations of unusual cold and great neat
accompanied by copous rainfall, the disease j
ALWAYS developed; and it, by any artificial means II
were possible to prevent these agencies from inilu-
enc;n- the potato we should measurably secure il
from destruction.
The potato moro than any other plant under cul-
tiyation in Great Britain according to Mr.. Hibberd,
is dependent for its health continued solar heat
and if we can produce artificial sunshine above tue
surface of the ground and artificial heat below, we
shall save the crop at times when sunshine iaiis'
and the ground is disastrously cooled by a heavy
rainfall. This forms the suggestion Of q method OF
treatment of the potato, which, according to the
author has resulted in the most advantageous man
ner. 1t is well known that favorable method OF
treating potatoes is to cultivate them III ridges so
that their roots may enjoy maximum OF ground
heat and be quickly drained of superfuous moisture
by means of the trough between the ridges ii,
now every ridge were pierced with tunnel, the
advantage would be increased since this would iu-
the non-conducting property of which would render
il a storehouse of solar heat, maintaining the tenn
peraure of the soil nearly at the point 1t had at
tanned before the weather changed, and, wnlie
favoring the rapid of surplus moisture acting
incidentally as well as nutritivey, to sustain the
health of the plant.
Acting upon this suggestion, the author procured
| a quantity of common roofing tiles. lald them III
lines in hard ground and laid potato sets upon
them, and then covered the whole with prepared
| SOIL so as TO form a long ndge, covering a shallow
| tunnel. The result was a remarkably heavy crop
| the texture finer than the average, and without
| trace of disease.
| He then resolved to improve upon the plan by
| providing a better tunnel than was possible with
| the nearly flat roofing tile and one was adopted
| made expressly for the purpose and known as the
| " Hibberd potato tile" This Is foot VIDE ana ~
inches long being in tie form of low iat-topped
arch four inches deep in the center these tiles are
laid down in lines four rect apart on hlIu gIouhu;
and as the sets laid on the TILES they are covered
with earth from the INTERVENING spaces nc ie t
is n series of rounded ridges, so FAR separated tnat
| the plants enjoy an abundance OF nght ana ar
Judgment OF water is impossible, ana III the event OF
a sudden lowering OF temperature when inc tuDeIs
| are rpcuiug the storage of earth-hedt below thS1
roots tides the crop over the time OF danger ana
prevents that engagement OF the tissues whifSh
| constitutes the first stage of the disease ana the
| nursery for the fungus. The intervening spaces
should be deeply dug and literally manured, and
| /
celery dwarf peas, brooch; cc' Whe IN itilil pta.
| tice it may be best to leave the burrows open,
because the sorts Of potatoes selected would pTollt
ably utilize the light and air, and III strong land
| really meet across the burrows
In response to the question whether the operation
will pay in practice. Mr.. llibberd remarks that the
outlay at first is considerable and that the tiles.
| even in England cannot he obtained at less thar
$50 to : 20 thousand, or az the rate OF apOut sou
! per acre; if laid a yard apart the cost would
Mr. H6berd's experiments with these tiles have
been conducted for nearly ten years and he Il en-
Uhaticav of the opinion that while IN not ana dry
seasons there Is comparatively little advantage over
| the old method yet IN majority OF seasons ana
always where these are ntdvorablc, the yield Is so
much greater rs, in very short time more tnan TO
repay the cost of the tiles and furnish handsome
profit and although he cOnlesSes he has occasionally
taken diseased potatoes from the tiles yet III several
| seasons he obtained very satisfactory crop when
| Others had none
The AMERICAN SOCIETY," OF PAMs.-ln 1851
an American Society was established in Paris of
| which, at present, N. Edward Nader dc Montjau is
| President and NJ. Emile Bdrnouf. Secretary These
especially interested in starting it were Messrs.
Brasseur de BourbouTg Leon de Rosmy, and Alfred
Maurv The special objects Of the Society. accord
inc to a circular, are the publication OF certain
| works of Mr.. Aubin. having special reference to
Mexican herOglyphics the presentation of dicton-
| aries and crammars in the native Languages Of
| America: the establishment of chairs OF hnguistics
| in Europe. for the service of those who wish to
devote themselves especially to the study Of
| America and furnishing the means TO students; and
the creation OF four museums IN the outskirts of
| Paris similar TO that of SAINT German, and under
! the auspices of such municipalities may encourage
| the idea: to consist: first, of Mexican museum !;
| second a Peruvian and South American museum :;
| third a museum of the Ethnography OF North
| America and fourth museum OF the Antilles.
The payment of 200 francs in one sum Will CON
stitute any person founder; while tituaries are TO
paw annually, a subscription Of % francs; once
Tor all. 100 francs. Members of ali classes will
ceve, without charge, the Annual of the Society.
! At present there are honorary members 4G tim
! larry members, and II corresponding members. In
the whole series however, there appears TO be but
one member from Amenca-namey, Mr.. Alexander
| s. TAYLOR of Santa Barbara California. The Society
so far does not seem to have accomplished much III
the way of publications, these consisting of an
| Annual in two volumes and reprint of a letter Of
! Columbus, published in 1865.
The critical acumen of the Society does not appear
| to advantage, since it has been reproducing hoax
perpetrated in 1861 i'll reference 10 an alleged dis
covery of Icelandic remains at Little Fails on the
| Potomac. five miles above the City of Washington,
| which had a run for time, and published in
many journals in the United States and Europe
without question of its genuineness, while It's absur-
dity one would suppose could be easily seen by a
person of ordinary intelligence
| According to the story, traveller named Philip
| Marsh found in Iceland Latin manuscript OF Ill.,
in which the travels of certain persons III the
try of Vineland narrated, and in which refer
ences were made to regions of country entirely diff
| ferent from the American Vineland as previously
| identified After careful inquiry it was believed
that the region about Chesapeake Bay answered
many of the conditions of the narrative and Prof.