POTATOES 



551 



of importance in England, and from that time forward it has 

 extended most rapidly, and, in spite of the disease, which about 

 the middle of the last century tdireatened complete ruin to its 

 cultivation, the Potato still holds the first place amongst edible 

 tubers. 



Varieties of the Potato might be counted to the number of 

 many thousands, if any one wished to record all that have been 

 raised and recommended in different countries during the last 

 hundred years. This extreme multiplicity of varieties has obliged 

 us to pass over a very large number of them, and we shall confine 

 ourselves to the description of fifty varieties or so which appear 

 to us to be the most distinct and, at the same time, the most 

 worthy of note. 



The stem of the Potato is generally solid, more or less 

 quadrangular, and often furnished with membranous wings at 

 the angles. The leaves are compound, formed of oval leaflets, 

 between which are often found small leafy growths, like leaflets of 

 smaller size. The flowers are produced in axillary and terminal 

 clusters, and have an entire, wheel-shaped, five-pointed corolla, 

 varying in colour from pure white to purplish. Many varieties do 

 not flower, and of those which do flower, a very great number never 

 bear fruit. The fruit is rounded or very shortly oval, green in 

 colour or (rarely) tinged with violet-brown, and averages about i in. 

 in diameter. It contains, in the midst of a green and very acrid 

 pulp, small, white, kidney-shaped seeds. These are never sown 

 except for the purpose of raising new varieties. 



The tubers, which are only underground branches swollen and 

 filled with starchy matter, exhibit very great difl"erences in shape 

 and colour, according to the varieties. They are usually divided 

 into the four classes of Round, Oblong, Long Notched, and Long 

 Smooth Potatoes. To these characteristics, and those which are 

 derived from the colour, may be added those which are furnished 

 by the buds or shoots which are produced by the tubers when kept 

 in a dark place. These are very constant in appearance and colour, 

 and afford the means of distinguishing one variety from another 

 with a considerable degree of accuracy. We believe few charac- 

 teristics are so important as these for determining varieties, and in 

 a work* recently published we thus spoke of them : "Whether the 

 tubers have attained their full growth, or, on the contrary, have 

 remained exceedingly small and puny ; whether they have been 

 fully ripened or not ; whether, even, they are sound or diseased, 

 provided they have enough vitality left to enable them to commence 

 to vegetate, the buds or shoots always develop themselves with the 



* " Essai d'un Catalogue IVlethodique et Synonymique des Principales 

 Varietes de Pomme de Terre," par Henry Vilmorin. Third edition. (Paris, 

 3902.) 



