INFLUENCE OF HEREDITY 113 



present-day environment to hold them in balance, 

 all were more or less unlike any potato which 

 had ever been cultivated. 



Among the number, though, was one variety 

 better than the rest — and better than any potato 

 which had ever been seen. This variety was 

 named the "Burbank" by J. J. H. Gregory, a 

 well-known seedsman of eastern Massachusetts. 



With the same work — indeed with less — both 

 the pioneer who grew potatoes for his own sus- 

 tenance, and the potato specialist who produced 

 his crop on a commercial basis, were now enabled 

 to very considerably increase their output. 



And to-day, when more pounds of potatoes 

 are grown than of any other food crop of the 

 world, the increase made in a single year's 

 crop — the increase gained without any corre- 

 sponding increase in capital invested or cost 

 of production — amounts to an astounding sum 

 in the millions. 



Possibly at no other time in the history of the 

 nation could the Burbank potato have come 

 more opportunely. 



These were the days when Chicago was a far 

 western city, and when the great territory be- 

 yond was the home of the pioneer. 



The potato is a vegetable designed peculiarly 

 for the pioneer. 



