Potato Growing. 



485 



profitable are absolutely ignored. Many of the most popular 

 varieties on the bench have never been profitable to grow ; and 

 though they may have deteriorated by years of growing, they 

 may produce a few tubers suitable for show purposes, so that 

 they are regarded by many as suitable, or even the best to grow. 

 A very bad feature of many of these worn-out varieties is that 

 they readily succumb to disease, and are the means of spreading 

 it to others which would ordinarily escape serious attack. 



It has been stated that the profitable career of a variety lasts 

 over a very few years, and even before it becomes unprofitable 

 new ones may have been produced which are far more profitable 

 to grow. It is certain that for the greatest profit to be 

 obtained the whole area under potatoes, with the exception of a 

 few grown for special purposes, should be cropped with alto- 

 gether new varieties within the space of a few years, old 

 varieties giving way to new ones as their profitable career closes. 

 All soils, however, do not maintain a variety at a profitable scale 

 for an equally long period, and a variety profitable on many 

 soils may always be unprofitable on others. 



As the profitable career of a potato is of short duration, it is 

 highly desirable to develop it as rapidly as possible, when once 

 it is proved to be one worth growing on an extensive area. 

 There is no doubt that a vast sum of money has been lost in the 

 past through not growing the varieties which at the time are 

 most profitable. As there is a considerable importation of 

 potatoes the effect of this is all the more marked. Loss occurs 

 through delay in not taking up new varieties of merit as soon as 

 they are available. Every year lost implies a loss to the farm- 

 ing community. As soon as a variety gives evidence that it has 

 all-round merit it should be developed to its utmost. That is, 

 as every eye of a tuber is a plant in embryo, every eye should 

 be planted separately. This has not been done as much as it 

 should be ; consequently, owing to the smaller quantity planted, 

 it takes a longer time for the merits of a variety to be recognised 

 by the public ; and probably two or three years of the profitable 

 period of a potato's career are to all practical purposes lost. 



Farmers are recognising much more than they did a few years 

 ago that developing new breeds of special merit as soon as they 

 can get them from the introducer is a specially profitable business, 



