46 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



an abundance of Potatoes that they can hardly be disposed of at 

 any price. Really, the salvation of the Potato, and of the con- 

 sumer, has been the ruin almost of the trade, for with stocks so 

 plentiful few want to purchase, and trade is almost unprofitable 

 to growers. 



Why, in the old disease days, before Magnum Bonum and 

 other fine sorts came to our aid, we imported thousands of tons 

 of Potatoes during the winter months from Germany, Belgium, 

 and elsewhere. That trade has been entirely suspended, for the 

 excellent reason that we grow plenty of Potatoes at home, not 

 only for our consumption, but have an abundance to spare. It 

 is true we import large quantities of early Potatoes from France, 

 the Channel Islands, &c, but their consumption in preference to 

 good home-grown old tubers displays a sadly vitiated taste, as in 

 most cases they are more fit for pigs than for intelligent men. 

 Mr. C. Fidler, of Reading, one of our great dealers in Potatoes, 

 as well as an extensive grower, has informed me that the average 

 price of Potatoes now in the market is fully 30 to 40 per cent, 

 lower than it was ten years ago — a fact which speaks volumes 

 for the wonderful development of Potato production, the result 

 of the possession of numerous disease-resisting varieties. 



The following lists of sorts affords some evidence of the 

 change which has been effected in Potatoes within the past com- 

 paratively few years : Beauty of Hebron and its white variety, 

 Webber's White Beauty, a distinct early sort ; Sutton's Early 

 White Kidney Seedling, Satisfaction, and Abundance, all robust 

 and great croppers ; Snowdrop, Schoolmaster, Magnum Bonum, 

 Vicar of Laleham, The Dean, Reading Russet, Prime Minister, 

 Chancellor, Reading Giant, White Elephant, Imperator, The 

 Daniels, Lye's Conqueror and King of Russets, The Governor, 

 The Bruce, Stourbridge Glory, and many others, nearly all great 

 croppers, and creators of that wealth of Potatoes which contrasts 

 so wonderfully with the comparative dearth of twenty-five years 

 since. 



