322 Seedling-Potatoes. 



this season, produces some handsome, smooth potatoes, a part of them 

 scarcely distinguishable from the parent ; while others are whiter and less 

 waxy : but none that I have tested are up to the standard of a first-class 

 potato. 



My success with these induced me to experiment further with seed 

 saved from the Early Rose last season. These were also planted in the 

 manner above described, last spring, from which I raised thirty-eight seed- 

 lings ; and there seem to be almost as many varieties as there are plants. 

 Some grew a single stem only a few inches high ; while others threw up 

 from two or three to a dozen, the largest plant covering an area of at least 

 four feet square, and this from a single seed planted the past spring. I 

 have been digging them since August as fast as the tops become dry, and 

 find the product nearly as various as their other characteristics. The 

 largest single potato produced, a knobby, irregular one, weighed thirteen 

 ounces. All the potatoes in this hill were ill shapen, but yielded a little 

 over two pounds. The smallest product was two small oval, red potatoes, 

 weighing about half an ounce. Several hills, the product of a single seed, 

 yielded two pounds and a half; but none have exceeded that weight. 



Some of the seedlings are white-skinned, some pink (like the EarlyRose), 

 some lighter, and others of darker shades of red. Some are very smooth, 

 others more or less rusty-coated ; and all have either shallow or prominent 

 eyes. In shape, some are long and rather slender, some flattened-oblong, 

 some nearly round, and others knobby and irregular. Some produce a 

 large proportion of small tubers, while others are nearly uniform in size, 

 and all large. In foliage, there is also a marked distinction ; some having 

 narrow, pointed leaves, others broad and rounded, some dark, and some 

 lighter shades of green, some red or purple stems, and some green. So 

 far as observed, the purple-stemmed plants have ivhite^ and the light-green 

 ones pink or red skinned potatoes. 



One of the most remarkable of these Early- Rose seedlings, which I dug 

 Oct. I, may prove of value as a late or mid-season variety. The accom- 

 panying drawing is an exact representation of its size and form. It is pink- 

 skinned, a little lighter than the Early Rose, a little rusty-coated ; surface 

 very regular, smooth, and even ; eyes few, and very shallow ; really one of 

 the handsomest potatoes I ever saw : and all in the hill were remarkably 



