54 THE POTATO 



'Weight of starch in one pound of tubers.' From 

 these 'General remarks' we learn that some 

 varieties were then marked as 'healthy,' 'pretty 

 healthy, or 'very healthy,' while others were 

 marked as 'unhealthy' or 'very unhealthy,' and 

 quite a number were marked as 'subject to curl,' 

 or 'very subject to curl.' The 'weight of starch 

 in one pound of tubers' was found to vary im- 

 mensely in the different varieties, the range of vari- 

 ation being from 408 to 903 'grains troy.' Two 

 varieties namely, the Sawyer's Red and the 

 Late Jersey were found to show 903 grains troy 

 of starch for one pound of tubers, but both these 

 varieties were branded as 'rather waxy and indif- 

 ferent in flavor. ' 



"It is worthy of note also that in those early 

 days the intelligent growers of potatoes were pos- 

 sessed of a good deal of knowledge which is fre- 

 quently supposed to be the product of modern 

 experiment and experience. Thus we find in the 

 first edition of Johnson's 'Dictionary of Modern 

 Gardening' that the plan of sprouting seed tubers 

 in trays or boxes for the growing of early potatoes 

 was well known and widely practised, particularly 

 in Cheshire, 'where they are celebrated for the 

 early production of potatoes. ' The same author- 

 ity was also very emphatic in regard to the impor- 

 tance of using fairly full-sized uncut tubers for 

 seed, and of conserving the first sprout of the seed 

 by way of preventing the loss of stamina inevitably 

 caused by the breaking of the first sprouts; and he 

 was equally emphatic in regard of using potatoes 

 that had been brought from a district that was 

 higher and cooler than that in which it was to be 

 planted. It was also known in those early days 

 that tubers which had been harvested before being 



