348 



DISCOVERY 



the market price, although such potatoes may boil 

 quite white and be of good flavour. An exception to 

 this at the present day is the fact that King Edward, a 

 kidney variety with pink patches around the eyes, is 

 probably the most popular potato, but it was not for 

 several years that the public took to it, and the early 

 growers of this variety had great difficulty in disposing 

 of it. It is curious that in the eighteenth century 

 red varieties were more common in England. Philip 

 Miller, in his Dictionary of Gardening, 1731, says : " Red 

 and white potatoes are both indifferently cultivated in 

 England, though the red sort is most commonly brought 

 to the markets." 



A potato should also be of good shape and have 

 shallow eyes, or it is wasteful in peehng. A kidney or 

 oval shape is usually preferred, but in many districts a 

 round shape is liked. Although there are exceptions, 

 a general rule is that a round potato does better than 

 a kidney potato in heavy soils. 



Potatoes grown in England, and especially in the 

 South, soon degenerate or " run out," as it is called. 

 Seed tubers saved from plants grown in the South thus 

 produce a large proportion of the hard tubers already 

 mentioned, with consequent decrease in crop. Much 

 of this loss, however, would be obviated if proper 

 selection were made of the plants when growing, and 

 if these were lifted before the haulms had died down. 

 In many foreign countries the same degeneration takes 

 place normally, but by careful selection of plants, and 

 by planting " seed " on a different kind of soil from that 

 on which it was grown, the crop tends to increase rather 

 than decrease. In England the farmer, if he selects at 

 all, just takes the tubers of medium size and of good 

 appearance for seed ; and as plants suffering from leaf- 

 roll produce tubers of good appearance and of seed size, 

 these are frequently selected, to the detriment of the 

 future crop. The cause of this degeneration is not 

 quite certain, but it seems to have something to do with 

 the ripening of the tuber, as if such potatoes are lifted 

 quite early while the haulms' (stem and leaves) are 

 still green, the resulting seed gives good crops. The 

 aim of the English farmer is to get Scotch " seed," as 

 he usually finds this gives him a better crop than 

 " seed " grown in England, and the generally accepted 

 reason is that " seed " grown in Scotland docs not 

 properly mature. There is reason to believe that 

 the average rainfall also has its effect, as " seed " 

 from the west coast of Scotland gives the best 

 results. 



The average crop in England is less than six tons to 

 the acre, being as low as four or even less on poor, heavy 

 soils. On the other hand, it may be as high as sixteen 

 tons in Lincolnshire and the Fen District of Cam- 

 bridgeshire, when the crop is grown under the best 

 • " Shaws " in Scotland. 



farming conditions. On the whole ten tons may be 

 considered as a good ordinary farm crop, but a private 

 gardener or good allotment-holder may readily get a 

 crop which works out at twenty tons to the acre. For 

 market a crop may be harvested either by digging with 

 forks, or by a machine which by a rotary motion drives 

 the potatoes out of the ridges so that they can be picked 

 up by women and children. They are then carted to 

 the place where they are stored, usually near the gate 

 of the field. Here a long shallow trench is dug and 

 lined with straw. Into this the potatoes are tipped and 

 piled as high as they will go. They are then covered 

 with dry materials (straw, bracken, etc.) and allowed to 

 dry off for a few weeks, when they are covered with 

 earth to keep out rain, frost, etc., holes plugged with 

 straw being left for ventilation. Such structures are 

 called hogs, clamps, pits, buries, etc., according to 

 locality. The potatoes are gradually marketed, being 

 passed over riddles to take out the small potatoes, 

 leaving the larger ones, or " ware," for market, the 

 smaller ones ("chats") going through and being fed 

 to animals. In the North and in Scotland another 

 riddle is used between the ware and the chats, and 

 by this means " seed " is obtained. 



Another point that potato growers are beginning to 

 realise is that quantity is not everj'thing. A recent 

 paper " issued as a Royal Society's report shows that 

 certain potatoes have a much greater value as food 

 than others, and it is quite possible that, although a 

 farmer may get a lesser crop with certain varieties, he 

 may yet get more feeding value to the acre. Such 

 potatoes have usually the reputation for being of good 

 cooking quality. 



This point is interesting when considered in con- 

 nection with the recent work done in Denmark ' on the 

 feeding value of turnips and mangels. Here it is found 

 that certain strains of a variety are of much greater food 

 value than other strains, and nowada>-s the best seed 

 merchants there guarantee that the strain they send out 

 is of a particular food value, and will pay damages if 

 the crop is not as guaranteed, the State's Seed Testing 

 Station being the assessor. 



The potato is now, therefore, coming to its own. In 

 America it has its own magazine, and in England the 

 new National Institute of Agricultural Botany has 

 obtained a station in Lancashire where further research 

 on it can be carried out. 



The Germans have for many years recognised its 

 value not only as a food, but also for industrial purposes 

 generally, and large areas are devoted every year to the 

 production of this crop, while research stations all over 



» Food (War) Committee Royal Society, Report on Com- 

 position of Potatoes, April 1920 



» Forage Crops i»i Denmark, by Harald Fabcr. (Longmans, 

 Green & Co., 1920.) 



