THE IDEAL POTATO. 



101 



"apple" interesting work, it is necessary to warn would-be raisers that 

 a great deal of patience is necessary. Many good potatoes, ' Royal Kidney ' 

 for example, produce no flowers at all, or only a few casual ones. ' Ever- 

 good ' also flowers very sparingly. Others which bloom do not produce 

 pollen. ' Up-to-Date ' is one of the latter, hence it cannot be used as a male 

 parent. The statement that it will not set " apples " if cross-fertilised 

 with pollen from another variety is, however, inaccurate. It has been 

 crossed by several raisers, and apples secured. A notable example of 

 success in securing progeny from 1 Up-to-Date ' is Sutton's 1 Superlative,' of 

 which ' Up-to-Date ' is the mother. Again, I have been informed that 

 ' Factor ' is a cross between 1 Abundance ' as the male and ' Up-to-Date ' 

 as the female parent. This cross was a lucky one for the raiser, as 

 ' Abundance ' produces very little pollen, and often none at all can be got. 



It is noteworthy that the products of cross-fertilisation generally differ 

 widely from the parents. Who would have foreseen in ' Flour ball ' or 

 ' Reliance ' parents of so marvellously robust a potato as ' Discovery ' ? 

 The fact is the cross-fertilisation of potatoes is full of uncertainty, and 

 thousands of seedlings frequently yield nothing. A seedling may attain 

 to extraordinary dimensions, and yield a huge crop in its first year. I 

 have known a plant from a seed sown in February bear nearly a stone of 

 tubers in September of the same year. 



It may be noted that a seedling will often be very badly diseased in 

 its first year. Another may be free for three years or more, and then 

 show weakness. Again, a poor first-year and a good first-year seedling 

 may reverse their order of merit with age. Five years' trial is none too 

 much for a seedling, and it is earnestly to be hoped that raisers will 

 select and re-select with care, so that as far as possible the character of a 

 novelty may be well fixed before it is put out. 



There is no difficulty in pollination, but the pollen must be carefully 

 watched for, so that its right period may be caught. The " apples " may 

 be preserved through the winter in drawers, or suspended in a cool room. 

 My method of sowing is to take a cutting-box in February, nearly fill it 

 with leaf-mould and sand, place the seeds in one by one as if they were 

 tomatoes, and put it on a shelf in a greenhouse or in a frame. They 

 germinate quickly. If given plenty of room they may be left in the seed- 

 box till mid- April, and then be planted out ; this saves trouble. But 

 stronger plants are got by pricking off from the seed-box into others, and 

 letting the young plants grow on into sturdy specimens before putting 

 them out. 



