WINTER MEETING. 2S9 



The farmer and fruit-grower, of all men, should be the most pro- 

 gressive and should most assuredly "Try all things, and hold fast that 

 which is good." 



It has been one of my hobbies to try all things in my line, so far 

 as it was in my power, and in doing so, I have spent much labor in 

 testing hundreds of varieties of potatoes. I have also grown thousands 

 of seedlings myself, and a few of which I am happy to say have proven 

 to have merit, and have become quite generally known throughout the 

 country. Others of my seedlings give much promise at the present 

 time, that two of them have been named "Klondike " and "Yukon." 



But the object of this paper is not to speak of my successes and 

 failures, but to tell you a few facts that I have dug out in my study of 

 that greatest of food plants, the potato. 



First, I want to call your attention to the idea that has been grow- 

 ing popular for several years in some sections, regarding what is known 

 as Southern second crop seed. Many claim that such seed is even 

 better than the Ii'I'orthern seed potatoes, which so many Southern plant- 

 ers have been in the habit of purchasing each succeeding year. 



Now, I set out to discover if this was a fact, and if so, why it was 

 so. If this second crop seed is better than all other seed, there must 

 be some reason for its being so. I have never read or heard any rea- 

 sonable explanation of the fact, and so have devoted considerable 

 study to the matter, and believe that I have found the reason why it 

 is better for seed, than much ripe stock, and am willing to admit that 

 in part the claim is well founded. 



It is claimed that the so-called "second crop seed" will keep sound 

 and firm until season for planting has arrived. This is true, and in this 

 fact, I believe, lays the entire secret. 



I have discovered by continued experiments that when a potata 

 is perfectly ripe, unless kept in practically cold storage, it will very 

 soon begin to wilt. In other words, it evaporates apart of its mois- 

 ture, thus leaving the. tuber shrunken and less fit for seed purposes;^ 

 in the game way that a wilted cutting of currant or other plant grows 

 less vigorously than an unwilted one. 



Repeated observation shows that a tuber that has not reached full 

 maturity will retain its moisture, and for many months continue as firm 

 and solid as when dug, under conditions where a ripe one will not* 

 Such a potato often on being cut for seed, will crack ahead of the 

 knife, it is so brittle, and the juice will run from it as from a newly dug 

 tuber. It is in just the condition to give its sprouts the necessary 

 amount of moisture to start a strong, thrifty plant suited to produce a 

 bountiful crop. 

 H— 19 



