Accession No
6662.14
Brief Description
Folder of 53 paintings, drawings & photographs labelled "Potato various diseases," no. 14 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
Origin
England; Cambridgeshire
Maker
Dillon Weston, W. A. R.
Class
natural history
Earliest Date
1932
Latest Date
1938
Inscription Date
Material
paper
Dimensions
365mm x 250mm
Special Collection
Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston Collection
Provenance
Inscription
Many pages have typed notes; see Description Notes.
Description Notes
Folder of 53 paintings, drawings & photographs labelled "Potato various diseases," no. 14 of 35, by Dr W. A. R. Dillon Weston, English, 1930s
NOTE: all objects have been transferred into archive folders for conservation purposes; original folders were photographed (see Images) and are stored separately.
6662.14.a -- "POTATO"
A watercolour diagram illustrating the intra-cellular mycelium (mangification not given).
6662.14.b -- "POTATO"
Watercolour of a section of a potato with suggestions as to the cause of the blanching.
6662.14.c -- POTATO SPRAING."
Watercolour of a potato plant. Dated March 1937.
6662.14.d -- "POTATO ROOT EELWORM. Heterodera schachtii var. solani"
Five diagrams in watercolour showing the life cycle of the eelworm, labelled Fig. XVIII. The diagrams are, according to the label, reproduced but coloured from O'Brien and Prentice.
6662.14.e -- "POTATO FLY DAMAGE."
A watercolour of a section of a potato. Dated March 1937.
6662.14.f --
Unlabelled section of a potato with suggestions as to the cause of the blackening.
6662.14.g -- "POTATO."
Watercolour of a section of a potato tuber.
6662.14.h -- "POTATO Surface storage rot."
Watercolour of a rotting potato.
6662.14.i -- "PREMATURE LIFTING AND SUN SCALD."
Watercolour of a discoloured potato, with a typed description of the farm of origin and the diagnosis of the problem.
6662.14.j -- "PREMATURE LIFTING AND SUN SCALD."
Watercolour of a discoloured potato.
6662.14.k -- "ETIOLATION."
A watercolour of a potato with sprouting. Description of the conditions of the tuber.
6662.14.l -- "FROST DAMAGE."
Five watercolours of various damaged ("chitted") potatoes, dated April 1933. Typed description of the diagnosis of the problem.
6662.14.m -- "POTATO."
Watercolour of a potato with typed label, describing farm of origin and date (February 1934).
6662.14.m -- "POTATO"
A watercolour of a potato with blue colouring. Labelled, "Fluorescence."
6662.14.n --
Two watercolours of potato sections, unlabelled.
6662.14.o --
Unlabelled watercolour of discoloured stalk & leaves of a potato plant.
6662.14.p -- "Potato leaf with a mixed virus infection containing component 'Y'."
Similar watercolour to p.
6662.14.q -- "Black scurf or collar fungus."
A watercolour of an infected potato with typed description of the fungus, its progression, and how to avoid it.
6662.14.r -- "POTATO Rhizoctonia solani."
A watercolour of a sprouting potato with brief typed description of the specimen.
6662.14.s -- "Dry Rot of Pottoes. Fusarium caeruleum."
A watercolour of an infeted potato. Typed notes indicate measures of control. There are also two short paragraphs describing additional methods for control, cut and pasted, which are on different paper and in a different typeface than any other writing in the collection and appear to be computer printed rather than typewritten.
6662.14.t -- "Potato. Black Scurf and Stem Canker."
Watercolour of an infected potato sprouting. Dated July 1936.
6662.14.u -- "Potato Root Eelworm. Heterodera schachtii var. solani"
A watercolour of a potato plant, typed notes describing the life cycle of the pest and its symptoms, and suggestions for prevention.
6662.14.v -- "POTATO."
A watercolour painting of a potato; pencil writing illegible.
6662.14.w -- "POTATO. BLACKLEG. Bacterium phytophthorum."
A watercolour of a potato plant.
6662.14.x -- "POTATO. Sclerotinia sclerotinium"
Watercolour paintings of infected potato stalks. Dated July 1937.
6662.14.y -- "POTATO. WATERY WOUND ROT. Phythium sp."
Watercolour of a potato section, with suggestion for prevention.
6662.14.z -- "WATERY WOUND ROT. Phythium sp."
Watercolour of a potato section, with long description of the current conditions in East Anglia, the life cycle of the disease, and suggestions for prevention.
6662.14.aa -- "WATERY WOUND ROT. Phythium sp."
Watercolour of a potato section, with long description of the current conditions in East Anglia, the life cycle of the disease, and suggestions for prevention.
6662.14.bb -- "WATERY WOUND ROT. Phythium sp."
Watercolour of two infected potatoes.
6662.14.cc -- "VIOLET ROOT ROT. Rhizoctonia crocorum."
Watercolour of a rotting potato. Dated 14 February 1934.
6662.14.dd -- "POTATO"
Watercolour of an infected potato.
6662.14.ee -- "POTATO"
Watercolour of an infected potato. Dated March 1937.
6662.14.ff -- "POTATO"
Watercolour of an infected potato. Dated March 1937.
6662.14.gg --"POTATO DRY ROT Fusarium caeruleum."
Watercolour of an infected potato.
6662.14.hh -- "POTATO DRY ROT Fusarium caeruleum."
Watercolour of an infected potato.
6662.14.ii -- "POTATO DRY ROT Fusarium caeruleum."
Watercolour of an infected potato. A typed description of the progression of the disease and various observations.
6662.14.jj -- "POTATO DRY ROT Fusarium caeruleum."
Watercolour of an infected potato.
6662.14.kk -- "POTATO"
Watercolour of an infected potato. Dated June 1937.
6662.14.ll -- "POTATO."
Watercolour of an infected potato.
6662.14.mm -- "POTATO Skin Spot."
Watercolour of an infected potato. Dated March 1937.
6662.14.nn -- "SILVER SCURF. Spondylocladium atrovirens."
Watercolour of an infected potato with notes about the prevalence of the disease, the specimen, and the symtpoms.
6662.14.oo -- "CORTICIUM SOLANI. Bourd. and Galz."
Watercolour of five infected potatoes, with descriptions of the fungus and its life cycle.
6662.14.pp -- "POTATO. COMMON SCAB. Actinomyces scabies."
Watercolour of a potato tuber.
6662.14.qq -- "BLACKLEG Bacillus phytophthorus."
A watercolour of an infected potato plant, typed notes describing symptoms of the disease and progression, measures of control, and the farm of origin of the specimen. Dated 6 July 1933.
6662.14.rr -- POTATO. WART DISEASE. Synchitrium endobioticum."
Two watercolours of potato tubers and one black and white photograph, which seems to be of the fungal growth.
6662.14.ss -- "POTATO. late blight. Phytophthora infestans."
Watercolour of the potato plant with details about the farm of origin, dated June and July 1936.
6662.14.tt -- "POTATO. BLIGHT. Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber.
6662.14.uu -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber.
6662.14.vv -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber. Typed notes indicate the condition of the sample.
6662.14.ww -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber. Typed notes indicate the condition of the sample.
6662.14.xx -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber. Typed notes indicate the condition of the sample.
6662.14.yy -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of two section of an infected potato tuber. Typed notes indicate the condition of the sample.
6662.14.zz -- "Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of the sporangiophore of the fungus, mangified x500 according to the typed label.
6662.14.aaa -- "POTATO. BLIGHT. Phytophthora infestans."
A watercolour of a section of an infected potato tuber.
References
Events
Description
Dr. W.A.R. Dillon Weston spent all of his professional life in Cambridge. After obtaining his degree in Natural Sciences at St. Catharine’s College, Dr. Dillon Weston gained employment as a mycologist (an expert in the study of fungi) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. Ministry Pathologists at that time were stationed at universities, where teaching and supervision of students were included as part of their duties.
During the 1930’s, Dillon Weston produced nearly 1,000 watercolour paintings of plants suffering from a wide variety of afflictions: mostly various fungal infections, but also pest attacks, nutrient deficiencies, and bad farming practices. These drawings were produced in connection with his position at the Ministry, which he described as forming a “link between the farm and the research station.” Farmers would send samples of afflicted crops to the Ministry, and Dillon Weston would diagnose the problem and offer solutions. This work was an example of the emerging school of “New” or “Economic” Botany, in which economically important plant diseases were studied with an eye to increasing crop yields.
Typed notes accompanying the paintings suggest that many of them were depictions of samples received by Dillon Weston at the Ministry, though it is unclear why he made them. Like his glass fungi models, also held by the Whipple (Wh.5826), the paintings may have been a hobby undertaken during bouts of insomnia. Some of the paintings are demonstrative or didactic in nature, and Dillon Weston may have used them in his lectures at the university, which he endeavoured to make “as interesting as possible,” according to a 1952 profile in Varsity, the Cambridge student newspaper.
The paintings demonstrate a careful attention to detail and a desire for accurate representation, which sometimes led Dillon Weston to push up against the limits of flat, two-dimensional representation. For example, he used painted cotton stuffing underneath layers of paper to imitate spores bulging up underneath a scab on an apple tree (Wh.6662.28, Wh.6662.29), and splashes of blue watercolour paint to demonstrate how far fungal spores can be spread by raindrops (6662.10).
12/09/2018
Created by: Matthew Green on 12/09/2018
FM:47336
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