ON THE POTATO 



to develop any or all of them still further. So my 

 general attitude of mind toward the garden prod- 

 ucts was that of a workman handling plastic mate- 

 rials. And, as regards the potato, I had a very 

 clear notion that the ones we raised might be very 

 distinctly bettered if only the right way could be 

 found. 



So the hint given by the seedball was instantly 

 taken and day by day the ripening of this precious 

 little receptacle was watched with the utmost in- 

 terest and solicitude. 



Judge of my consternation, then, on visiting the 

 potato patch one morning with the thought in 

 mind that now, probably, the seedball would be 

 ripe enough to pick to find that the coveted fruit 

 had disappeared. 



With anxious attention I parted the vines and 

 searched everywhere for the missing seedball. I 

 went over every inch of the ground for many feet 

 on all sides. But I could find no trace of the miss- 

 ing seedball. 



I was obliged finally to give up the search for 

 the day, reluctantly admitting that I should prob- 

 ably never see again the little ball of seeds on 

 which such high hopes and expectations had been 

 based. 



Yet I could not believe that the seedball had 

 been carried away, for no outsider visited the gar- 



[273] 



