35 



Mr. BuCKE. — Mr. Dempsey's potato did very well with us. It is very nutty and 

 nice in flavour. People who have raised it like it so well as a rule that they are not eating 

 it ; they are keeping it till next spring for seed. 



Mr. Wellington. — Potato growing is hardly in our line, but last year we grew the 

 Beauty of Hebron, and this year we have set out the White Elephant. That is a late 

 potato, and I think it is a potato that has come to stay. It is very large and very pro- 

 ductive. It is white ; the eyes are not deep set ; and on cooking it, it has turned out remark- 

 ably well, being very floury and without any sogginess in even the largest specimens. We 

 had one specimen this year — and it was not a very good year for potatoes either — which 

 weighed two pounds and a half. 



Mr. Beall. — I had some of the Dempsey Seedling potatoes. I got a few more than 

 the law allowed in the Fruit Growers' Association. I got them in another way. 

 I had intended to have given them a very fair trial planted side by side with the Early 

 Rose; for I cannot very well judge of the quality of a potato or of its productiveness but 

 by comparison. I knew very well already what the Early Rose did for me. My land is 

 not very well situated, I think, for potatoes, and when the dry weather came on the Early 

 Rose soon failed — ripened early. The Dempsey potato continued green, but the rain 

 kept ofi" too long, and in due time the leaves gave way and died. I gathered the potatoes, 

 and found a very fair crop. The Early Rose was not, I think, a third of a crop on ac- 

 count of the dry weather. If the Early Rose had produced in the same land as the 

 Dempsey potato I should have said the Early Rose had given me a very fair crop. With 

 regard to the qualities of the potato, I think I can sum them up very quickly. My Early 

 Rose potatoes are sold. The Dempsey potato we are eating this winter. I think it will 

 not be a favourite for some time —that is, until it is found out how to cook them. My wife 

 tells me it is almost an impossibility to cook them ; for you will either have them all 

 broken open like flour or the heart not entirely cooked — they are so dry. We are much 

 pleased with the potato, and for a long time I shall certainly not plant an Early Rose. 

 The Dempsey potato will take its place. It is a better potato in flavour, and we like it in 

 every particular. It resembles the Early Rose in shape, but it has a rougher skin ^ It s 

 a kidney potato. But the best feature about it is that the eyes are not sunken. It is the 

 nearest to being smooth of any potato I ever saw. I never saw any other potato that I 

 liked as well I have had this year other potatoes that produced better, but they were 

 in soil specially prepared. They were the Burbank Seedling. 



Mr. Honsberger. — Although I cannot say that I am not a potato grower, I 

 received from the Association the Dempsey Seedling, and gave it rather an indifferent 

 trial. I was very much surprised at the results. I found it made a very rank growth. I 

 am satisfied the land had no manure for at least five years, consequently the yield of po- 

 tatoes was very light. I got for my crop about half a bushel, and from appearances 

 they were very nice. I thought I should have just what I wanted in a potato — a medium 

 sized one If I get an overgrown potato, I rather take it to the root-house for the cattle 

 than store it for table use. This Dempsey Seedling is an almost perfectly smooth potato, 

 and just about medium sized. Having so few of them I could not testify as to their quali- 

 ty ; I want to give them another trial. I also tried the Burbank Seedling this year, and 

 like it very much. 



Mr. Woodward. — Varieties multiply rapidly, and about ninety-nine out of a hundred 

 that are put out are hardly worth anything when you come to test them. It is very hard 

 to find a potato that is better than the Early Rose, all things considered, although I do 

 not consider the Early Rose a superior potato so far as quality is concerned. The Beauty 

 of Hebron I call a very good potato. We have many potatoes that outyield it very 

 much ; but, all things considered, with us that is the best of all the new varieties I have 

 tested. We have another potato, the Queen of the Valley, which is the heaviest yielder 

 of any potato I have ever tried ; but with me, this year, the quality is not up to what I 

 expected. 



Mr. Beadle. — What do your people think of the Early Ohio '? 



Mr. Woodward. — The Early Ohio is very similar to the Early Rose. 



Mr. Dempsey. — Does it ever grow hollow 1 



Mr. Woodward.— Yes ; if it grows very large it does. There is one thing about the 



