1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



371 



from a comparatively small number of seedlings: but 

 to get something better than the varieties we already 

 have, I think it is a very conservative estimate to say 

 that we must grow 10 000 seedlings to get one that is 

 an improvement over existing sorts. We have grown 

 strawberry seedlings for years, and have thrown 

 away a great many thousands, and yet have nothing 

 to show for all of the work done, unless it may be that 

 one which we now have on trial will come up to ex- 

 pectations. We have also raised a good many seed- 

 ling potatoes, and some that were really good; but 

 careful comparison with old varieties showed that we 

 have not, as vet, produced any thing worthy of dis- 

 semination. There is more than one side to this ques- 

 tion, however. One can often produce a seedling 

 quite as good as well-known varieties, and then there 

 are particular strains, or families of varieties which, 

 if one is fortunate enough to secure, is more likely to 

 be successful than with the common run. We had 

 several hundred seedling strawberries one year in a 

 bed, and we noticed that, when this bed was picked, 

 the berries were as fine as the best of the varieties in 

 the variety patch alongside. I have heard Mr. Craw- 

 ford say that he was almost sure to get good varieties 

 from seedling strawberries. I think one is more sure 

 to get something good if he crosses desirable varieties, 

 and by careful trial one may find which varieties to 

 cross to give the best results, although no one can be 

 certain just what the result will be. He can simply be 

 sure that certain crosses will produce better restdts 

 than certain other crosses; and I believe that, when 

 one begins to grow seedlings, he ought always to grow 

 from seed that has been produced by systematic cross- 

 ing, as he is more sure of getting good results in this 

 way than by gathering seed at random. L,ast winter, 

 at the State Horticultural Society, Mr. L. H. Read, of 

 Wisconsin, had on exhibition a large number of vari- 

 eties of potatoes grown from seed, nearly all of which 

 were very fine. These examples do not prove, how- 

 ever, that one need have any reason to expect that he 

 will get something superior to old varieties. It simply 

 shows that, by careful work, he may get something 

 good, and be almost sure of it, every time. 

 Wooster, O., March 28. W. J. Green. 



We copy the following from our good friend 

 Manum, who gave us the Enormous potato : 



GROWING SEEDLING POTATOES. 



Mr. A. I. Root: — In Gleanings, page 238, vou make 

 a request that I give your readers something of my 

 experience in growing seedling potatoes. I will state 

 that, in the past fifteen years, I have grown thousands 

 upon thousands of seedlings, and of these thousands 

 I found but one that I thought was really any better 

 than what was already before the public. This one I 

 introduced as " Manum's Enormous." 



I find that in growing seedlings of any kind, wheth- 

 er potatoes, strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries, 

 or even flowers of any variety, it is important that we 

 have a base — a good foundation from which to start; 

 that is, our chances of success will be far better if we 

 take our seed from choice varieties. 



I always aim to secure seed from stock that is as 

 nearly an ideal variety as is possible to get. We 

 would not think of breeding from a scrub cow, nor 

 raising queens from worthless mothers; and no more 

 should we think of saving seed-balls from undesirable 

 potatoes. 



I might spin out a long article in telling you of the 

 different families of potatoes, for such do exist, as 

 much as different families of cattle and sheep; and, as 

 Mr. Terry once said regarding a new variety of pota- 

 toes, "Blood will tell." It is a fact, however, that one 

 may grow hundreds of seedlings from seed taken 

 from any of our very best varieties of potatoes, and 

 yet not get one superior new variety; and then, again, 

 we may get several good ones, though perhaps no bet- 

 ter than many of our old well-known varieties. In the 

 lot of seedlings from which I selected the Enormous I 

 had an unusual number of good varieties. 



My seedlings the third year from seed numbered 

 101, and the fourth year from the seed I selected five 

 that were very promising. They were Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 

 No. 9 being the Enormous. No 1 was an excellent 

 table potato — I think one of the very best I ever ate. 

 Although they yielded heavily at first, they soon 

 "went down," as the saying is. to an ordinary yielder. 

 I plant a few each year, however, for seed-balls, as 

 they are great ball-bearers. Nos 3, 4, (i, were discard- 

 ed as being no improvement on the old stock. 



The next season I again raised several thousand 

 seedlings, a portion of which I planted the second and 

 third years, and finally discarded them all. 



You will see, therefore, Mr. Root, that I have work- 



ed hard and faithfully for fifteen years, and thus far 

 have s-ucceeded in producing but one really desirable 

 potato. I have at the present turetl seedlings three 

 years old — so many saved from hundreds thrown 

 away last year. Among these 41 I have some very 

 promising varieties, one in particular which promises 

 to be extremely early. But that with the 40 others 

 may have to be thrown overboard in O'le or two years. 

 I have now, as is my custom at this season of the year, 

 thousands of little seedlings up about two inches, and 

 to-day I have been pricking them out in larger trays. 

 I may get a good variety out of the lot. and I may not. 

 There is one tlv'ng sure: I shall not knowingly intro- 

 duce a new potato until I am quite sure that it is equal 

 to or better than what we already have. 



My experience with berries has not been as extend- 

 ed as with potatoes, corn, oats, and beans. In L897 I 

 transplanted SI seedling strawbenies, and all but one 

 have been discarded. Six years ago I had 23S new 

 beans. They were the result of cross fertilization by 

 honey-bees. Of these 238 I have only one that proved 

 to be desirable; but there are so many beans on the 

 market I never offered it except once, and then the 

 sales were so few that I gave it up. 



It will be seen, therefore, that an originator's efforts 

 are often rewarded with painfully small proportions 

 of desirable varieties, if, in fact, he is fortunate enough 

 to get that small proportion. 



I have an acquaintance, Mr. A. Rand, who has 

 grown seedling potatoes for many years, and who, by 

 the way, is as well informed as regards the different 

 varieties of potatoes and their origin as any man in 

 America. He tells me, and I agree with him, that 

 there are some families of potatoes that are incapable 

 of producing seed from which a desirable variety of 

 potatoes may be grown. It is, therefore, important 

 that we get our seed from choice stock. Every year I 

 test many of the new varieties offered for sale. I do 

 this to test their quality and vitality ; and if I find in 

 them a desirable quality that stems to be more prom- 

 inent than in some other choice variety, and if the 

 flowers of this new variety furnish pollen (many vari- 

 eties do not), I try, by cross-fertilization, to incorpo- 

 rate the good qualities of the one with the other. By 

 this union I feel more sure of success with the seed- 

 lings that follow. 



As intimated above, it is important that we have a 

 good foundation upon which to stait our building. 

 With this in mind I use. as a base, varieties of the old 

 Snowflake family, and try to improve upon that fam- 

 ily by introducing new blood. 



I am often asked how it is that my potatoes bear 

 balls. To succeed in this I aim to plant ball-bearing 

 varieties, and see to it that bugs do not destroy the 

 flower-buds; for in the crown is where the tiny bugs 

 begin their work of destruction. 



In 1895 I gathered three bushels of balls, from which 

 I soved one pound of seed: but we must remember 

 that there are but few varieties that bear balls. Al- 

 though our potatoes may blossom well, many of the 

 flowering varieties produce pistillate or imperfect 

 blossoms. They are not unlike strawberries in this 

 respect. 



I am aware I have made this article much too long, 

 and yet I feel that I have but hinted at the various 

 points which require further explanation. 



There is one point which t wish to mention regard- 

 ing new varieties, and that is, that it is very probable 

 that some of the much-advertised new varieties are 

 old varieties introduced under a new name. For in- 

 stance, a year ago a man who has sold to seed houses 

 several so-called new varieties, purporting to be of 

 his own origin, wrote me, asking my price for a bar- 

 rel of very choice select Enormous potatoes, stating that 

 he wanted them to sell to a seed house under a new 

 name, and that the transaction would not hurt me in 

 the least. I will simply state that " Mr. Man " did not 

 get the potatoes. 1 never answered his letter. 



Bristol, Vt., March 30. A. E. Manum. 



It is a little remarkable how well these two 

 veterans in the business agree. Where we 

 take chance seedlings, just as they happen, 

 the chances are very small for getting any 

 thing better than what the world has already. 

 But where one goes to work with a definite 

 end in view, selecting the best parents, avail- 

 ing himself of cross-fertilization, etc , then the 

 work may amount to something. Mr. E. C. 

 Green, a brother of the above writer, went to 

 work in just this way to produce the Fancy 



