ON THE POTATO 



to develop any or all of them still further. So my 

 general attitude of mind toward the garden prod- 

 ucts was that of a workman handling plastic mate- 

 rials. And, as regards the potato, I had a very 

 clear notion that the ones we raised might be very 

 distinctly bettered if only the right way could be 

 found. . 



So the hint given by the seedball was instantly 

 taken and day by day the ripening of this precious 

 little receptacle was watched with the utmost in- 

 terest and solicitude. 



Judge of my consternation, then, on visiting the 

 potato patch one morning — with the thought in 

 mind that now, probably, the seedball would be 

 ripe enough to pick — to find that the coveted fruit 

 had disappeared. 



With anxious attention I parted the vines and 

 searched everywhere for the missing seedball. I 

 went over every inch of the ground for many feet 

 on all sides. But I could find no trace of the miss- 

 ing seedball. 



I was obliged finally to give up the search for 

 the day, reluctantly admitting that I should prob- 

 ably never see again the little ball of seeds on 

 which such high hopes and expectations had been 

 based. i 



Yet I could not believe that the seedball had 

 been carried away, for no outsider visited the gar- 



[273] 



