THE POTATO AND THE POMATO 



While he is working with all these factors 

 in view, and gradually bringing the potatoes 

 under test up to the standard he has set for 

 each, he is perhaps more deeply interested in 

 the production of a better flavored potato than 

 in almost any of the other features, important 

 though they are. He holds that it is highly 

 important in the production of a new fruit or 

 vegetable to make it preeminently palatable, 

 for, in the last analysis, it is palatability that 

 decides the permanence of any new food. If 

 palatability be eliminated as a factor, then 

 mankind is prone to consider the food, — no 

 matter what its form or character, — a medi- 

 cine, to be taken because it produces certain 

 necessary results. He has long been working, 

 and with satisfactory results, to breed more 

 sugar into the potato as one element of pala- 

 tability so that when cooked it will present a 

 far more satisfactory flavor. Several of the 

 new varieties now under test have already 

 shown a delightful advance in this respect over 

 older varieties. The question of size is also 

 important, and Mr. Burbank is giving to the 

 potatoes uniformity so that they will be more 

 satisfactory for shipping. The old-fashioned 



97 



