AVOID DEEP-EYED POTATOES. 321 



The prejudice against red potatoes may be a mere prejudice, 

 but it exists, and we must make the best of it, and get around 

 it if we cannot overcome it. We know no reason wl)y red 

 potatoes should not be as good as white ones ; neither do we 

 know any reason wliy a red man may not be as good as a white 

 man ; but we all prefer to be white, and we all prefer white 

 potatoes. 



Avoid a deep-eyed potato. There is great waste in buying 

 them, as we buy much air if we buy by the bushel. This may 

 not be an objection to the producer, but we take it for granted 

 all farmers are honest and wish to give a fair equivalent for 

 value received. If potatoes were sold by weight, as they should 

 be, this objection would be obviated ; but still there would be 

 great waste in cooking the deep-eyed tubers. Still some of the 

 deep-eyed potatoes are so good that we can afford to pocket 

 these losses. The Garnet Chili is imperfect in this particular, 

 but is too good a producer, and too healthy and well flavored, 

 to be discarded for this one defect. Moreover, it is the father 

 of the Rose, one of the latest wonders in the potato world. As 

 we can buy a bushel of Garnets as cheaply as one pound of the 

 Rose, we prefer for table use the old block to the young chip; 

 though we have no doubt the Rose will prove a great accession 

 to the varieties of potatoes, especially as it matures a week or 

 ten days earlier than the Early Goodrich. 



We should not do this subject of the varieties of potatoes 

 justice did we not pay a tribute to the memory of the late Rev. 

 Chauncey E. Goodrich, of Utica, N. Y., who devoted more time 

 and showed more zeal and skill than any other man in propa- 

 gating the potato. For sixteen years he studied this subject 

 most carefully, and he has left us a rich legacy in the results 

 of his investigations. From some constitutional idiosyncrasy, 

 Mr. Goodrich was unable to eat potatoes himself, which fact 

 makes his persevering labors in studying the habits of the 

 plant and originating new varieties all the more praiseworthy. 

 As early as 1846 his attention was called to the potato disease. 

 The result of his investigations was the conclusion that the 

 causes of the disease were want of vigor in the constitution 

 of the plant, the artificial mode of propagation by cuttings 

 instead of the natural mode by seeds, the sudden changes and 

 the intensities of our climate and the character of the soil. 

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