POTATO DEVELOPMENT WORK IN WISCONSIN. 55 



purposes are Early Ohio. There is still one other difference 

 which so far as I know, has never been mentioned, though it is 

 more than likely that it has been observed, and that is with re- 

 spect to the character of the sprouts. The Early Ohio sprouts 

 are short, thick, and stubby, while those of the Early Rose are 

 longer and more slender and devoid of the thick bulbous base of 

 the Early Ohio. 



The Irish Cobbler group of potatoes is not easily confused with 

 any other. The vine growth is short jointed and stocked with 

 abundant foliage. Under favorable conditions the leaves are 

 large flat, more or less glossy, and of a rich green color. The 

 plants bloom freely, the flowers being borne in large clusters or 

 cymes. The color of the flowers is a delicate shade of purple or 

 rose lilac. If the weather is cool the color is deeper than if high 

 temperature prevails. If subjected to extreme high tempera- 

 tures the color may almost entirely disappear. 



The tubers are round to a short, oblong, some are distinctly 

 shouldered, while others are only slightly so or not at all. The 

 eyes are, as a rule, rather deep, particularly the bud-eye clus- 

 ter, and the skin is a clear creamy white. The members of 

 this group mature early. The Early Petosky, Early Victor, 

 Early Eureka and several others belong to this group, if, in- 

 deed, they are not identical with the Irish Cobbler. 



The Burbank group is characterized by having white skinned, 

 long cylindrical or slightly flattened tubers having many eyes. 

 The sprouts have a fruit tinge of pink and the stems arc 

 possibly a shade darker than the Green Mountain group. The 

 flowers are white, the plants are bushy and of fair size. White 

 Chief, Knowle's Big Cropper and White Star are simply var- 

 ietal strains of Burbank. 



The Triumph is such a distinct variety, particularly in its tu- 

 ber characteristics, that it needs no description. 



The Pearl seems to belong to a class by itself. It is said to be 

 a white sport of the Blue Victor, but thus far we have failed 

 to find any literature to corroborate the statement. It is a 

 strong grower with well branched short jointed stems. The 

 stems are medium green and the flowers are white. The tubers 

 are round flattened to more or less peltate or heart-shaped. The 

 stem is strongly recessed and the eyes have -a faint purplish 

 tinge when freshly dug. 



There are other varieties that might be mentioned but they 

 are of so relatively little importance to this locality that I shall 

 omit them. 



