THE POTATO ITSELF 287 



ball it was far advanced toward perfection, and 

 my task consisted merely of watching it and 

 making sure that the seeds were gathered and 

 preserved, and in due course planted. 



A Seed Ball Lost and Found 



That the story should not altogether lack 

 picturesqueness, it must record that my incipient 

 discovery came very near being rendered futile 

 by the accidental loss of the all-important seed 

 ball after it had been found. 



The seed ball was first seen growing on an 

 Early Rose potato vine, some time before it 

 came to maturity, and I was at once impressed 

 with the idea that this might sometime be of 

 value, inasmuch as this potato had never been 

 known to bear seed. Moreover, for some time I 

 had been on the lookout for potatoes that would 

 offer opportunities for development, as those 

 that were grown in the neighborhood at the time 

 did not fully meet my ideas as to what a potato 

 should be in form, size, color, production, or 

 keeping qualities. 



The Burbank potato was produced on my 

 New England farm in 1872 and was sold to 

 J. J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, Mass., a 

 prominent eastern seedsman, who named and 

 introduced it in 1875. 



