270 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



There are also certain qualifications which the producer de- 

 sires in the variety which he is to plant. It should be vigorous 

 and productive, yielding a large number of medium sized tubers 

 in each hill, for it is upon the yield that his success depends. 

 It should be of upright growth, for tops of that type are easier 

 to work among, less likely to be injured by the sprayer and 

 less likely to blight. It should be tough skinned, not peeling or 

 scarring easily, even though dug while green. It should be dis- 

 ease resistant and on this point varieties differ widely, and it 

 should be early, med'ium, or late, according to local, market or 

 climatic conditions. 



Bearing these requirements of both consumer and producer 

 in mind, the first step is to choose the variety. The grower 

 may be well pleased with what he has already or he may need 

 to try out several varieties before he finds one which is satisfac- 

 tory. The variety having been chosen the next step is to secure 

 the very best seed obtainable of that variety. Here, again, the 

 grower may be able to supply his own needs or may find it neces- 

 sary to purchase seed from his neighbors or to secure it at a 

 distance. 



Given the variety and the seed, there are at least five methods 

 of seed selection, one or more of which, every grower, good, 

 bad, or indifferent, must follow. These are: 



1. Selection at random from the bin. 



2. The use of culls. 



3. Selection of ideal tubers from the bin. 



4. Hill selection. 



5. Plant breeding. 



By the first method the potatoes are used for seed just as 

 they are shoveled up from the bin, large and small together, 

 with only the rotten and perhaps the scabby tubers removed. It 

 v.'ould seem at first thought that under this method the crop 

 would be neither better nor worse than that of the previous 

 year, but as a matter of fact, the stock would in a few years 

 become less vigorous and prolific. 



The custom of marketing all the potatoes that can be sold, 

 and planting the remaining culls is all too prevalent and cannot 

 be too strongly condemned. It is true that there are many 

 growers who loudly boast that they have used nothing but culls 

 for a great many years and are now growing larger crops than 



