424 FIELD CROPS 



only a few are cultivated plants. The tomato and nightshade 

 belong to this genus, and tobacco belongs to the same family. 

 Potatoes and tomatoes are so closely related that branches 

 of one may be grafted upon the other. 



554. Varieties. There is a very large number of different 

 varieties of potatoes. Some are distinct -types, but many of 

 them are simply new names given by seedsmen to old 

 standard varieties, for the purpose of encouraging their sale. 

 While the varietal characteristics are quite pronounced, it is 

 not always possible to distinguish even between well-known 

 kinds, because a variety will vary greatly if grown under 

 different soil conditions, and especially if grown and selected 

 by different individuals. Some of the desirable character- 

 istics in potatoes are good yield and quality, medium size, 

 smoothness, and shallow eyes. 



There are many different ways of classifying potatoes. 

 They may be divided into early and late, white and red, 

 smooth and rough, deep and shallow-eyed, or as long, flat, 

 or round, etc. The most common classification, however, 

 is early and late. Some of the well-known early varieties 

 of potatoes are Early Ohio, Bliss Triumph, and Early Rose. 

 These potatoes will usually produce a crop in from 70 to 100 

 days from planting. Some of the more common and gener- 

 ally distributed late varieties are Rural New Yorker, Sir 

 Walter Raleigh, Carman No. 3, and Burbank. These varie- 

 ties, as a rule, yield more than the early varieties. They 

 require from 100 to 130 days in which to mature a crop. 



555. World Production. During the five years, 1905- 

 1909, the average annual production of potatoes in the world 

 was about 5,000,000,000 bushels. This places potatoes in 

 the lead of all other crops in the total number of bushels 

 produced. The average production of wheat, corn, and oats 

 for the same years was approximately 4,000,000,000 bushels 



