74 



THE POTATO 



are yellow when cooked, or turn dark or black, are 

 not considered of good quality, even if the flavor is 

 good, and can be sold only to a low-class trade. 

 Tubers must not be hollow in the center, as this gives 

 rise to a hard, dark-colored core, which is decidedly 

 objectionable if potatoes are to be mashed. 



Some varieties will cook better if they have been 

 kept ; they are, in other words, for spring use. Thus, 

 in New York, Carman No. 3, White Star, and Doe's 

 Pride come in this category. 



The flavor should be mild, and free from earthiness. 



2. The yield. The average yield of potatoes from 

 one plant in the United States is about half a pound. 

 Having weighed the yield of hundreds of potato 

 plants during the past year, we find that in the case of 

 Early Ohio one plant yielded three tubers weighing 

 half an ounce, while another yielded thirteen tubers 

 weighing two and a half pounds. The latter yield is 

 eighty times the former. In late varieties plants yield- 

 ing four pounds of tubers were found. In some of the 

 recent English productions whole plats would average 

 six pounds of tubers per plant, while individual plants 

 have yielded over twenty pounds of potatoes, as man}' 

 as 150 potatoes being set on one plant. 1 These facts 

 emphasize the value of the farmer selecting seed him- 

 self and eliminating the poor plants. All the tubers 

 from the best plants should be saved and planted sep- 

 arately to produce the seed for the following year. 

 The expenses of growing a poor and a heavy crop 

 vary little. The only additional cost of the latter is 



1 Gardener's Chronicle, Oct. 15, 1904, pp. 276-278. 



