VEGETABLE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. 59 



riage well and keeps in good condition a long while after being gathered. 

 It also possesses the valuable property of ripening up well on the under 

 side next the stem, a quality in which many varieties are deficient. Speci- 

 mens have been on exhibition, both at the "Weekly and Annual Shows, 

 where it attracted particular attention by its extraordinary beauty of 

 form, and singular richness of color. As a further indication of its 

 merits we should also state, that your Committee were unanimous in 

 awarding it the first prize over all others, for two successive years, at 

 the Annual Exhibitions of the Society. 



Through the kindness of its introducer, several of the members of this 

 Committee were favored with a few seeds for trial, all of whom bear 

 testimony to its excellence, and can recommend it for its many superior 

 qualities as worthy of general cultivation. 



The production of new and improved varieties of the Potato from 

 seed, which shall be more valuable than those in previous cultivation, 

 is an object especially worthy the attention of cultivators, and the 

 encouragement of the Society. The success which attended the efforts 

 of the late Mr. Goodrich, whose attention to the improvement of the 

 Potato has given us so many excellent and valuable new varieties, has 

 given a new impetus in this direction, and the indications are. that the 

 coming season will add to our present list others of great promise. 



The process of obtaining these seedlings as practised by Mr. Goodrich . 

 was not only very slow, and gradual in its results, but it also required a 

 good stock of patience, and untiring perseverance to produce them. 

 Starting as he did with the Wild Peruvian, and Kough PurjDle Chili, in 

 a course of experiments extending through a period of fifteen years he 

 succeeded in obtaining only ten, out of the large number of sixteen 

 thousand seedlings, which were considered worthy of cultivation. 

 Among the most valuable ones were the Cuzco, raised from seed of the 

 Wild Peruvian, and its progeny are the Early Goodrich and Har- 

 rison. The Garnet Chili was raised from the seed of the Rough 

 Purple Chili, and its progeny and the Calico and Early Rose; the latter, 

 however, was not raised by Mr. Goodrich, but is one of seven varieties, 

 the product of the seed of a single potato ball of the Garnet Chili, 

 raised by Mr. Albert Breeze of Hubbardston, Vermont, in 1861. It 

 was introduced to the notice of the public last spring, and notwithstand- 

 ing it was sold in limited quantities, and at almost fabulous prices, was 

 very widely disseminated, and has thus far given universal satisfaction. 



It was exhibited for the first time on the tables of the Society, on the 

 30th of June, by B. K. Bliss & Son, where it attracted the attention of 

 all. The specimens were of good size, and well grown in seventy-two 

 days from date of planting in the open ground. The same gentlemen 

 exhibited them again on the 11th of July, and were awarded the Society's 

 Silver Medal. 



