64 THE POTATO 



Up-to-Date and the British Queen, both of which 

 were excellent varieties. At one time it seemed 

 as if both these varieties would have to be dis- 

 carded on account of disease, but they seemed to 

 recover their vigor and reputation. In fact, the 

 Up-to-Date, though it has now been before the 

 public for some fourteen years, is still probably the 

 variety most largely grown throughout the coun- 

 try. Shortly after it was brought out it was grown 

 on a large scale on Lord Rosebery's home farms 

 at Dalmeny, and the enormous crops of Dates 

 then produced — which certainly were grown on 

 exceptionally excellent and lavishly manured soil 

 — helped greatly to bring the Date into public 

 favor. The Langworthy, brought out by Mr. 

 Niven of Madderty, CrieflP, about the same time 

 as the Up-to-Date, is a variety of exceptional cook- 

 ing quality, but is not so heavy a cropper, though 

 it generally commands a higher price per ton. 

 Other varieties, such as the Scottish Triumph 

 (raised by Mr. Gemmell, Flakefield, Hamilton), 

 the Crofter, and the Factor (raised by Mr. Chap- 

 man, Bathgate), the Dalmeny Hero (raised by Mr. 

 John Hunter, F. I. C), and many others, have 

 their backers as the main crop varieties most ap- 

 proved by them. 



"So matters stood at the end of the nineteenth 

 and the beginning of the twentieth century. Then 

 there was brought about the great Potato Boom, 

 which may well take its place in history along with 

 the South Sea Bubble. The circumstances at the 

 time were all in favor of those who worked up the 

 boom, for in 1902, and still more so in the following 

 year, the season was very unfavorable for the po- 

 tato crop in the United Kingdom as well as on the 

 Continent, so that prices for sound tubers ruled 



