QUALITIES OF THE POTATO. 319 



ling from the Carter, is flavored mucli like its parent ; and the 

 Early Goodrich commends itself, in this particular, to universal 

 favor. 



Another characteristic of a good potato is its farinaceous 

 quality. Possibly we might become accustomed to a soggy 

 potato so as to prefer it to a mealy one, but it will be some years 

 hence and after long and self-denying practice. Possibly the 

 mealy quality can be carried to excess, so that the potato will 

 fall to pieces in boiling, and will not have consistency enough to 

 be chopped up or broiled or fried in a second cooking. We 

 have heard this objection made to the Dover. The first edition 

 of it is good — light as a sponge cake ; but it is almost impossi- 

 ble to warm it over and bring it on the table in a decent shape. 

 As the first cooking is the more important one, and as the fari- 

 naceous quality is so desirable, there is little danger of culti- 

 vators paying too much attention to its development. 



Form is another quality to which all potato-growers should 

 have an eye. A deep-eyed, hunchbacked potato may taste just 

 as well as a smooth, well-formed one ; but there is great waste 

 in cooking it, and the market value is and should be less. The 

 Colebrook Seedling is a model in its form — a smooth, egg-shaped 

 potato, with seldom an excrescence upon it. The State of 

 Maine and the St. Helena are looked upon with great favor, as 

 is many a belle, mainly for their good form. We may decry 

 good looks, either in women or potatoes, as much as we please, 

 still the stubborn truth will remain, that good looks first attract 

 the eye and find a market. 



Productiveness is a recommendation to the character of a 

 potato so obvious that it needs only to be alluded to. This 

 quality does not originate solely with the soil, as some imagine, 

 any more than does the fattening propensity of a pig consist 

 solely in the swill-pail. The productiveness of an animal runs 

 much in the breed, and it is much the same in the vegetable. 

 Some varieties of potatoes yield abundantly where others would 

 sparingly. In the monthly report of the Agricultural Commis- 

 sioner for December last, we find a table exhibiting the yield of 

 the several varieties of potatoes grown upon the grounds of the 

 department the past season, from which we learn that the great- 

 est produce at Washington, as determined by one summer's 

 trial, is the Albert, yielding 47-^-\ pounds for one pound planted. 



