VARIETIES OF POTATOES. 317 



tliem and sowed their seeds, and by again watching for the 

 earliest of them they finally ol)tained varieties which were two 

 months earlier than those they had been accustomed to culti- 

 vate. In the same manner, by selecting the seeds of the most 

 farinaceous, the best flavored, best shaped and most productive, 

 the quality and quantity were as greatly improved as the early 

 maturity. 



In this country we have, until recently, paid too little atten- 

 tion to this matter of variety. Some thirty years since we 

 reckoned as surely upon a crop of potatoes as we now do upon 

 a crop of beans. The potato disease was unknown ; and, no 

 matter what variety we planted, we expected a return of thirty 

 or forty and sometimes sixty fold. True, there was a difference 

 in quality then as now ; but as long as all varieties were healthy, 

 and the tuber was mainly used in feeding stock, we considered 

 the variety as of minor importance. Many farmers planted the 

 varieties indiscriminately in the same field and housed them in 

 the same bin. This was ever a slovenly practice, a mixing of 

 tares and wheat, which we fear some continue to this day. 

 There is as much choice in the varieties of the potato as there 

 is in the breeds of cattle. And, if we wish to attain any excel- 

 lence or profit as cultivators, we must exercise the skill and 

 discrimination of the stock-breeders. Some are hardy, others 

 delicate ; some ripen early, others late ; some are well flavored, 

 others unpalatable ; some prolific, others unproductive ; some 

 well formed, others ugly ; some farinaceous, others soggy. Now, 

 if we plant healthy and diseased potatoes together, it is much 

 like placing a robust child to sleep with an aged and infirm per- 

 son. It is possible the vigor of youth may counteract the ten- 

 dency to disease, which contact with the decay of age induces, 

 but the chances are against it. Disease of every kind propa- 

 gates itself. " One rotten egg corrupts the whole clutch," as 

 the Irish saying is ; and we all know how one rotten apple 

 spreads decay through the whole barrel. So, in a hill or bin, 

 one rotten potato is a prolific source of disease to all its com- 

 panions ; and if we plant healthy and delicate potatoes together, 

 or house them together, we show either ignorance of the law of 

 catalysis or gross carelessness. 



Breeders have laid down the most prominent points of a good 

 animal, by which they are governed in awarding premiums and 



