THE POTATO 39 



I 



from which, by fresh shoots, the pliant is capable of 

 redevelopment; and although the tubers may be 

 preserved through the winter for planting again 

 in the following spring they are neither more nor 

 less than portions of the plant which died down 

 and apparently ceased to exist in the previous 

 autumn. Hence the life of a single potato plant 

 may be prolonged year after year until through 

 weakness or deterioration it comes to an end. 



"Potato seed, on the other hand, is totally dis- 

 tinct in every way, being the seeds formed in the 

 potato berries which some, though not all, varieties 

 of potatoes bear freely. A berry may contain 

 from 100 to 300 seeds, the average of five berries 

 examined being 232, and as the parent plant ap- 

 pears able to control but slightly the distinctive 

 character of its progeny, and as all the different 

 seeds from one potato berry may produce plants 

 differing from one another, not only in form, but 

 many of them in color also, it is here we find the 

 great possibilities for improving the race by selec- 

 tion of the better seedlings. Even if no cross- 

 fertilization of flowers was attempted, great im- 

 provement might be made by the selection of the 

 most promising seedlings during the first few years 

 of their existence; but where judicious crossing of 

 the best known varieties is undertaken, we can in a 

 great measure combine in some of the resulting 

 seedlings the merits of both male and female par- 

 ents, although even then no two seedlings from the 

 same berry may be exactly alike. 



"Those who attempt to raise seedling potatoes 

 must possess abundant patience. Like many 

 other species which are not habitually multiplied 

 by seed, the potato has a remarkable tendency to 

 revert to the wild form. It may be necessary to 



