322 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 



The constitution of the potato, he concluded, had thus become 

 impaired, and tlie product of one year transmitted its want of 

 vigor to the next generation, each becoming more and more 

 enfeebled. In 1848 he imported from South America, the 

 original home of the potato, some of the native tubers, and 

 from the seed of these began producing new varieties. In all, 

 he originated some fifteen thousand seedlings. These he divided 

 into seventy-four distinct families. After four or five years' 

 trial of the different seedlings, he rejected those whose health, 

 yield and habits he did not like. Mr. Goodrich died in the 

 midst of his experiments, but not until he had established in 

 public favor the Garnet Chili, Early Goodrich, Cuzco, Calico, 

 Gleason and Harrison varieties, which now stand at the head of 

 the list with all well-posted cultivators. These varieties can be 

 cultivated with the expectation that under ordinary circum- 

 stances they will escape disease and yield remunerative crops 

 of excellent quality. They will probably degenerate in the 

 course of time, and a reproduction from seed of healthy parent- 

 age is the only mode of propagating the potato with the cer- 

 tainty of reproducing a healthy variety. The Early Goodrich 

 has not done as well the past season in some localities as for- 

 merly, but we have never yet seen a rotten potato of this variety. 

 To insure the success of the Early Goodrich, and indeed of 

 all the early varieties, planting must be done early in the season. 

 So far as we can learn, those who have failed of producing good 

 crops of this variety have planted late. Early planting pro- 

 duces a greater amount of woody fibre and less of soft cellular 

 tissue in the vines, as it grows more slowly in the cool weather. 

 As a general rule, the early planted crops of all the varieties 

 are more hardy than those planted late. The maturity of the 

 crop is driven by late planting into extreme autumn and unfa- 

 vorable weather, even should it escape the dangers of the hot, 

 sultry days and cool nights of August. It sometimes happens 

 that extreme warm weather, with sudden changes, occurs in 

 June, when the vines of the early varieties are in their most 

 succulent state and the tubers are approaching maturity. In 

 this case they may become diseased, while the late planted, not 

 much developed, escape and yield a healthful and bountiful 

 crop. This is, however, the exception, and not the rule. We 

 look for the weather that is most trying to the constitution of 



