1493_ Uncovering the New World Columbus Created - Charles C. Mann [263]
71 Guano and blight (footnote): Porter 2007 (spore survival); Mizubuti and Fry 2006:451 (survival of sporangia); Aylor 2003:1996 (“through the atmosphere”); Inagaki and Kegasawa 1973 (nematode). The eleven counties were Kerry (Anon. 1842. “Spring Show of the Kerry Farming Society.” British Farmer’s Magazine 6:178–93); Kilkenny (Anon. 1843. Review of The Irish Sketch Book. The Dublin University Magazine 21:647–56); Meath, Cork (Johnson 1843); Down, Armagh, Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Kilkenny, Roscommon, Antrim (all from Anon. 1843. On the Celebrated Peruvian Manure Called “Guano.” British Farmer’s Magazine 7:111–24). Another possible explanation for the unusual speed of the blight’s spread would be that it was actually introduced a year or two earlier (Bourke 1993:147–48).
72 Myers’s conclusions: Myers 1998 (fourteen failures, 63; decline of lazy-bed and failures, 473–75).
73 Failure of scientific explanations: Matta 2009; Zadoks 2008:16–20; Bourke 1993:130–39; Wheeler 1981:321–27 (“our senses,” 324); Large 1940:14–19, 27–33, 40–43; Jones et al. 1914:23–33, 58–60. Some historians propose that the potato failures of 1845–47 inflamed already existing discontent, thus contributing to the revolutions of 1848 (Zadoks 2008).
74 Murphy’s beetles: Murphy, T. 1862. Letter to Valley Farmer, 22 May. Quoted in Tower 1906:26.
75 Spread of beetle in United States: Hsiao 1985:44–45, 71; Tower 1906:25–36; Foster 1876 (“train of cars,” 234); Riley 1869:102–03; Walsh 1866. Foster quotes the train story as from the New York Times (19 Jul. 1876), but this is incorrect; the source must be another account.
76 Beetle spreads to Europe: J. F. M. Clark 2007:113–16 (trade war, 114); Hsiao 1985:55; Tower 1906:39.
77 Path of beetle to potato: Lu and Lazell 1996; Jacobson and Hsiao 1983; Tower 1906:21–25.
78 “the beetles”: Anon. 1875. “The Potato Bug,” NYT, 2 Jun. Sixteen million: Female fecundity can exceed four thousand, and there are typically two generations in a year (Hare 1990:82–85).
79 Failed efforts to fight beetle: Casagrande 1987:143–44; Riley 1869 (“destroy them,” 108); Walsh 1866 (horse-drawn remover, 15).
80 Insect plagues: Essig 1931.
81 Paris Green: J. F. M. Clark 2007:120–24; e-mails to author, Casagrande; Casagrande 1987:144–45; Lodeman 1896:59–69 (London Purple, 65–67); Riley 1869:116.
82 Copper sulfate (discovery, mix with Paris Green): Casagrande 1987:145–46; Large 1940:225–39, 277–79; Lodeman 1896:25–33, 47, 55, 100, 122–23.
83 Beetle resistance: E-mail to author, Casagrande; Alyokhin et al. 2008 (“management,” 400, “production,” 407); J. F. M. Clark 2007:124 (first DDT test); Hare 1990:89; Casagrande 1987:146–47; Jacobson and Hsiao 1983 (heterozygosity).
84 “clean fields”: Pollan 2001:218.
85 Resurgence of blight: Mizubuti and Fry 2006 448–49; Garelik 2002.
CHAPTER 7 / Black Gold
1 Dispute over Indians’ status: A good summary is Hanke 1994:chap. 1. I discuss this more fully in Chap. 8.
2 Navagero biography: Cicogna 1855 (list of publications, 209–10). The garden may have been inspired by early accounts of the botanical gardens in central Mexico.
3 Team sports in Europe: The sole potential exception was a soccer-like game in Italy, calcio fiorentino, recorded as far back as 1530. Europe’s second-oldest team sport, polo, was not introduced to Europe until the nineteenth century. Odds are that the Mesoamerican ball game is the world’s oldest continuously played team sport. The court in Paso de la Amada, in the southern tip of Mexico, was constructed in about 1400 B.C. (Hill et al. 1998), whereas polo apparently dates to the time of Christ (Chehabi and Guttmann 2003:385). Lacrosse, indigenous to North America, may also be very old.
4 “Great speed”: Navagero 1563:15v–16r; see also, Navagero,