Preliminary 

 studies. 



172 



of years to allow a safe judgment to be made. Generally speaking from four 

 to six years is required before the value of a sort can be pronounced upon. 



When the work of potato improvement began at Svalof there was first 

 collected a large number of old sorts for examination and testing. Thus in 

 1903 there were planted a collection of 420 sorts obtained from the Agri- 

 cultural College at Ultuna while about 100 newer sorts were purchased from 

 certain foreign breeders. As much of this material as space would allow was 

 again planted in 1904 and the whole lot delegated to Dr. M. 0. Malte for a 

 critical botanical examination.* Copious notes were made on this material 



Photo by L. H. N. 

 FIG. LVII. Fj. (first generation hybrids) from different potato crossings. 



and about 300 plants were pressed for further study. During the growing 

 season notice was taken of the time of flowering and of maturing as well as 

 of the attitude of the different sorts toward disease. In 1904 a public request 

 was made through the local newspapers for material for special exploitation. 

 In this way not less than 150 lots from 89 different growers were obtained. 

 The intensive study to which the above material was subjected, pro- 

 vided data which proved of great service in laying the foundation for 

 systematic work in the amelioration of this crop. It also served to disclose 

 the great number of varieties and types which were scattered throughout the 

 country and the difficulty of classifying these into groups. It showed indeed 

 that the number of so-called sorts then in circulation was much greater than 

 in the case of other agricultural plants. This is attributed to the fact that 

 the potato cross-fertilizes naturally with comparative ease and that a large 



* Dr. Malte is now an officer (Agrostologist) of the Experimental Farms' Branch of the Dominion 

 Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Ont. 



