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to, in fo eafy a manner as by comparing every va- 

 riety with one kind that fhall be confidered as an 

 univerfal ftandard, to which all defcriptions fhould 

 refer; the firfl ftep therefore will be to fix on one 

 kind that fhall be proper to be confidered as an 

 univerfal ftandard. The difficulty is to find a kind 

 that may be diftinguifhed from all others, by fuch 

 ftriking characlerifticks as to prevent a poflibility 

 of miftaking it. 



In cafting about with this view, it feems to me 

 that the kind known in 'Scotland by the name of 

 the wife potatoe, promifes to anfwer this purpofe 

 better than any other, becaufe it is diftinguifhed 

 from other kinds by one very obvious peculiarity* 

 viz. that of never carrying any bloflbm or fruit. 

 [Since the above was written, I have feen fome 

 other forts that carry no bloflbm, but thefe may 

 be very eafily diftinguifhed from it by fome other 



of its obvious characterifticks.] Its peculiarities 



are as under. In form the bulbs of this kind are 

 remarkably regular, being all of the fhape of a 

 heart, fomewhat longer than its due proportion, 

 and flatted a little one way. The fibre by which 

 it adheres to the ftalk, which I would call the um- 

 bilical cord, adheres to the great end of the bulb, 

 and the point of the fmall. and is thickly covered 



with 



