4 BULLETIN 105, XJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGKICULTUEE. 



Rough Piirplo Chili because of its rough skin, purple color, and sup- 

 posed place of origin, a variety which upon its introduction in 1867 

 did more to awaken a keen and widespread interest in potato breeding 

 in America than any other variety which has since been produced. 

 This statement is well substantiated by a perusal of our agricultural 

 literature and the seed catalogues issued between 1867 and 1884, 

 The same publications also show that this period was marked by 

 greater activity and more painstaking efforts in potato breeding 

 than have characterized the more recent years. The interest was 

 greater, more work was accomplished, and the parentage of the new 

 introductions was much more carefully recorded than has been the 

 case in subsequent years. Since 1884 comparatively few of thg 

 mtroductions have been obtained from hand cross-pollinated seed. 

 In the main they have sprung from naturally fertilized seed or have 

 come as sports or mutations from varieties already in cultivation. 



So fa,r as the writer is aware, Goodrich did not attempt hand 

 pollination of the potato blossoms, and in that respect he may be 

 said to have failed in the performance of the highest type of plant 

 breedmg. His was a pioneer work which served to blaze the way for 

 those who followed. Among the men who later took up the work 

 may be mentioned C. G. Pringle, of Charlotte, Vt., and E. S. Brownell, 

 of Essex Center, Vt. 



The work of Pringle deserves rather more than passing mention, 

 inasmuch as he brought to bear upon the problem all the skill that 

 the then existing knowledge of plant breeding furnished. His was no 

 haphazard work. He selected his varieties for crossing with a definite 

 purpose in view. Each variety was supposed to possess one or more 

 desirable qualities which it was proposed to combine by crossing 

 with certain other desirable qualities of another variety. Not only 

 were the varieties selected with a defiiiite purpose in view, but equally 

 as much attention was paid to the selection of particularly healthy 

 and typical parent plants. So skillful did Pringle become in the 

 breeding of potatoes that we find him contracting with a leading New 

 York seedsman in the early seventies to produce hybridized potato 

 seed at $1,000 per pound. A considerable quantity of such seed 

 was produced and through the agency of the seedsman was widely 

 disseminated. There is every reason to believe that this seed, falling 

 into the hands of amateur plant breeders, resulted in the production 

 of a large number of promising new varieties. Of the potatoes 

 which Pringle originated and which were introduced by B. K. Bliss 

 & Sons, the Snowflake was perhaps most widely known. This 

 variety was noted for its high table quality, but on account of a 

 rather weak constitution and medium productiveness it became 

 popular only as a family table potato. 



