BIOLOGY IN HUMAN AFFAIRS 



Rose is the Irish Cobbler. Little is known about its origin, 

 but this variety, with Green Mountain and Rural New- 

 Yorker, make up the bulk of the commercial crop in the 

 East. Green Mountain, along with numerous other varieties 

 that are not now grown, resulted from the attention of 

 O. H. Alexander of Charlotte, Vermont. The parentage is 

 unknown. 



The potato-breeding efforts of E. S. Carman deserve 

 particular mention. This former editor of the Rural New- 

 Yorker advertized in his paper for potato seed and, in 

 response to his appeal, received quantities from many 

 parts of this country and from Europe. From this collection 

 he grew many seedlings which he attempted to interpol- 

 linate by hand. He had little success, but fortunately on 

 some plants seed balls set naturally, and from these he grew 

 the plants from among which were selected Rural New- 

 Yorker, Carman, and Sir Walter Raleigh. All of these are 

 important varieties. The first is grown by the millions of 

 bushels in New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and 

 Minnesota. 



Within recent years little interest has been taken in 

 the production of new varieties of potatoes, owing largely 

 to virus disease. This insidious infection is widespread 

 but little understood. It is less prevalent in northern 

 regions having a short, cool growing season. For this reason 

 nearly all seed tubers are grown in the north and shipped 

 each year to the main potato growing districts all the way 

 down to Florida and Texas. This is a tremendously wasteful 

 procedure. It would be better in many ways to have 

 the seed tubers grown locally. This would not only save 

 the expense of hauling but would also make possible the 

 production of new varieties better adapted to each locality. 



Recently the United States Department of Agriculture 

 has announced a new virus-resistant potato from the breed- 

 ing grounds at Presque Isle, Maine. This potato has desira- 



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