Potato C 



7 



VARIETIES. 



From the fact that the United 

 States produce about 109,000,000 

 bushels of potatoes annually, it might 

 be supposed a great many varieties 

 would be cultivated. Such, however, 

 is not the fact. Of the varieties ex- 

 tant, comparatively few are grown ex- 

 tensively. 



Every grower's observation has es- 

 tablished the fact that for quality the 

 early varieties are inferior to the late 

 ones. The Early June is very early, 

 but its quality is quite indifferent. 

 The Cherry Blow is early, attains 

 good size, and yields rather well. In 

 quality it is poor. The Early Kidney, 

 as to quality, is good, but will not 

 yield enough to pay for cultivation. 

 The Cowhorn, said to be the Mexican 

 yam, is quite early, of first quality, 

 but yields very poorly. The Michi- 

 gan White Sprout is early, rather pro- 

 ductive, and good. Jackson White is 

 in quality quite good, is early, and 

 a favorite in some places. The Mo- 

 nitor is rather early, yields large crops ; 

 but as its quality is below par, it 

 brings a low price in market. Phil- 

 brick's Early White is one of the 

 whitest- skinned and whitest-fleshed 

 potatoes known. It is about as early 

 as Early Goodrich, is quite productive, 

 and grows to a large size, with but 

 few small ones to the hill. Its quality 

 is excellent. It has not yet been ex- 

 tensively tested. The Early Rose is 

 said to be very early, of excellent 

 quality, and to yield extremely well. 

 It has, however, not been very wide- 

 ly tested. Perhaps for earliness and 

 satisfactory product, the Early Good- 

 rich has no superior. It is of fail- 

 quality, and though some seasons it 

 does not yield as well as others, yet, 

 all things considered, it is a desira- 

 ble variety. The old Neshannock, or 

 Mercer, is among the latest of the 

 early varieties. As to quality, it is the 



standard of excellence of the whole 

 potato family. But it yields rather 

 poorly, and its liability to rot, except 

 on soils especially fitted for it, has so 

 discouraged growers that its cultiva- 

 tion in many sections is abandoned. 

 On rather poor, sandy soil, manured 

 in the hill with wood-ashes, common 

 salt, and plaster only, it will produce 

 in ordinary seasons two hundred 

 bushels per acre of sound, merchanta- 

 ble tubers, that will always command 

 the highest market price. Any potato 

 cultivated for a long series' of years 

 will gradually become finer in texture 

 and better in quality ; but its liability 

 to disease will also be greatly increas- 

 ed. As an instance of this, it will be 

 remembered that when the Merino 

 and California varieties were first in- 

 troduced, they were so coarse as to 

 be thought fit only to feed hogs, and 

 for this purpose, on account of their 

 great yielding qualities, farmers con- 

 tinued to cultivate them, until finally 

 they became so changed as in many 

 sections to be preferred for the table. 

 Their cultivation, however, is now 

 nearly abandoned. 



Of the later varieties, the Garnet 

 Chili, a widely-diffused and well- 

 known sort, deserves notice. It is 

 not of so good quality as the Peach 

 Blow; but its freedom from disease, 

 and the large crop it produces, make 

 it a favorite with many growers. The 

 chief fault with it is, the largest speci- 

 mens are apt to be hollow at the cen- 

 tre. It ripens rather early; and, even 

 when dug long before maturity, it has 

 a dryness and mealiness, when pre- 

 pared for the table, not found in many 

 other sorts. The Buckeye is exten- 

 sively grown for market ; its yield is 

 not satisfactory, and its quality is only 

 medium. The Dykeman is yet grown 

 to some extent, but will soon be su- 

 perseded. 



The Prince Albert is a well-known 

 and highly-esteemed variety, ap- 



