THE POTATO 57 
Now you can see why it was important to notice the position 
of the eyebrow with reference to the stem end of the potato, 
because the little fold and the leaf stem always lie below the bud 
that is to grow to a shoot. 
If you compare the potato with the twig of a tree, you will see 
that the leaves of the twig rest upon a tiny fold, and that shoots 
grow out of the space just above. The potato has the same 
arrangement though it is only after careful study that we dis- 
cover it. 
The potato lays up food for the new shoots by packing the 
underground stems full of starch. When the sprouts begin to 
grow, they use up the starch, and it makes them grow faster and 
better. This kind of stem is called a tuber. 
As the potato itself lives underground it does not need leaves, 
so all that remains of the leaves on this part of the stem is the 
small scale. 
When a potato is planted in the ground in the spring or early 
summer, it sends up shoots which are covered with green leaves. 
The potato is used up by the growing plant. As soon as it can, 
however, the potato plant begins to make new potatoes under the 
ground. .-The new potatoes are small at first, being not much 
larger than peas, but they grow through the summer until they 
are large. In the fall or late summer they are dug up and sent 
to market. 
The Potato Bug 
After the potato plant has begun to grow and has some green 
leaves there appears upon it a small striped beetle called the 
