62 THE POTATO 



Forfarshire, who in the early '70's brought out 

 the Champion, which was a heavy cropper of 

 fair quality and had great disease-resisting power. 

 In the course of a few years this variety was very 

 largely grown in Scotland as well as in Ireland. 



"Early in the '70's also a number of new 

 varieties were imported from America, and from 

 one of these the Early Rose crossed with 

 Paterson's Victoria, there was produced the Mag- 

 num Bonum, which was brought out by the Messrs. 

 Sutton in 1876. The Magnum Bonum was a cap- 

 ital cropper, of excellent quality and great capacity 

 for resisting disease. In a short time it took the 

 leading place among all the varieties grown in 

 England. 



"A series of wet seasons, culminating in the dis- 

 astrous season of 1879, wrought great havoc 

 among the crops of the country, particularly in 

 England. A departmental committee was ap- 

 pointed to investigate the whole question of pro- 

 ducing new varieties, and they recommended that 

 parliament should initiate and subsidize experi- 

 ments designed to produce new and disease-proof 

 varieties; but this recommendation was never 

 acted on. Lord Cathcart, in commenting on this 

 report, states: "All potatoes have degenerated in 

 their disease-resisting powers. A variety from 

 seed takes four to six years for its establishment, 

 and under the most favorable circumstances a good 

 variety may be expected to degenerate in twenty 

 years. The production of new varieties is of na- 

 tional importance. ' 



"Through the influence of Lord Cathcart, Mr. J. 

 G. Baker, the eminent botanist, was led to make an 

 exhaustive study of the genus Solanum, in order to 

 advise as to the relation of the cultivated varieties 



