My dear Sir,

In continuance of my respects of yesterday— —The seedling plants were not got away, they will go today. The box of tubers was sent, the carriage of all being paid to Orpington.¹

The long dark-red tubers are those from which I obtained all the seed I sent out this season. This variety is said to be vigorous; to yield “double crops”, and to be almost free from disease. It is not disease proof, as in selecting the largest for you, I found one diseased tuber. It is, I believe, young, as it yields its seed freely, and in your hands may perhaps be of use in intercrossing.²

The four large roundish pale-reddish tubers are said to be a French variety. They were grown last year with their foliage in contact with the foliage of diseased plants; with diseased plants in all directions around them; and no tuber of them all, failed to resist the infection. They are of a very vigorous growth but do not flower, therefore they must be prevented from forming tubers in order to compel them to give seed. The three small tubers in the linen bag are part of the produce of a single seed, the whole number being 145. Three of the tubers became infected, but they also were grown in contact with diseased plants under circumstances very favourable to the parasite, and perhaps when the conditions are reversed they may recover.

The other small tubers are each different and new varieties, grown from the seed last year. They have no_xx merit further than this, that every tuber of each of these plants absolutely resisted the disease last season; they at the same time growing in a perfect hot-bed of disease. It now remains to be seen will they continue to resist?

I am myself perfectly satisfied, I have no fear at all on the subject; perhaps I am too sanguine, but I am fully persuaded that your last letter³ is in reality the death-knell of the peronospora, and with your permission (if you can permit it) I shall make Kolokol ring it out from the Kremlin through the furthest depths of Siberia before the Autumn is over.⁴ And as the first step may I beg of you to read enclosed advertisement, and if you approve of it have the goodness to let it go forward; and if the accompanying twenty pounds does not buy enough publicity in the “Times” for my purpose I shall try a hundred.

If the title “Death of the peronospora”, seems to audacious, might I beg of you to score it out, and substitute “proposed suppression of the Potato Disease”, or something of the kind, and also to alter the advertisement in any way you may think fit.⁵

I am ashamed to ask you to take this trouble—but the matter at issue is so vast—and time may be so limited.

I am continually being asked what do I expect to gain by all this trouble and expenditure? I can only reply, what particular benefit could I expect to derive from spending the whole of my life in gathering gold? Why I only want more money for the express purpose of fighting this pest. And as to the trouble, it is no trouble at all; it is le sport in another form and without the death-horror of the prey. The peronospora does not know that we are pressing on its life, nor that every word addressed to you and approved of by you, turns, as it drops from my pen, into a live blood-hound which shall hunt it to the death.

I am sorry the seedling tubers I send you have no merit save immunity from disease.⁶ They were planted before I thought you might like to have them, so I had to dig them up, and could not well make a selection.

I have still a few thousands seeds of the year 1874, which, being obtained from pretty nearly all the varieties in the North of Ireland which now produce seed, may naturally be expected to give greater variations than that sent out this year, which was all obtained from the one variety; of these I have great pleasure in enclosing one half; they are not, I think too late for experiment

I shall have the intercrossing done here by the most experienced Horticulturalist whose services I may be able to obtain.

I put this in plainer writing than my own, in order to save you trouble, and should have put it in type, only for time being lost.

Lord Templetown’s agent has just handed me the “Telegraph” containing some notice of the matter which I forward.⁷

Should you be pleased to look at it, I should be happy to explain the matter which Liebig approved of.⁸

I am my dear Sir with profound respect faithfully yours | James Torbitt