SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE, MARCH 28. 



lv 



years. Ho exhibited largely some years ago, and he found that he could 

 get much better crops from seed planted late than from tubers planted in 

 the usual way in the spring. 



Mr. Gordon, V.M.H., remarked that the point for them to consider 

 was how to prevent this degeneration. He thought the case of the 

 potato was wholly different from that of fruit-trees, because so far as he 

 knew no varieties of apples, pears, or plums had degenerated, although 

 they were reproduced vegetatively by grafting. When he was a boy the 

 ' Eibston Pippin ' was supposed to be dying out, but now they could see 

 thousands of trees in the country in the most healthy condition, and 

 bearing excellent crops of fruit. They ought to remember that the 

 potato was an exotic, and was grown in this country under conditions 

 very different from those in its native home, and that was a point to 

 which they should, he thought, pay special attention. Then they ought 

 to consider whether their methods of procedure did not contribute to the 

 degeneration. In his early days they used to cultivate the old ' Fluke,' 

 which was supposed to be dying out, but they used to grow some tons per 

 acre more than their neighbours. Their practice was, instead of keeping 

 the potatoes close in clamps until the time for planting, to spread the 

 tubers in cool sheds protected from frosts. Consequently they did not 

 make long growths, which had to be removed, and the tubers were not 

 exhausted to the same extent. They were thus able to grow the potatoes 

 of that particular variety long after the other growers in the district were 

 able to do so at anything like a profit. There was, therefore, a great deal 

 in their methods. The same could be said of chrysanthemums. These 

 had been grown for a large number of years, and the plants retained 

 their original vigour until there was a great demand for blooms of the 

 very biggest possible size. Then the forcing system of cultivation was 

 adopted. This brought about weakness of the plant, and the particular 

 varieties died out in a very few years. As to the potato, if they adopted 

 a different method in selecting and saving the seed-tubers, they might be 

 able to retain the vigour of the varieties longer than was the case at 

 present. 



Mr. Shea stated that Mr. Gordon had anticipated much that he would 

 have said. They were undoubtedly dealing with an exotic which could 

 not under the best conditions live its perfectly ideal life here. Therefore 

 the potato was in a measure slightly on the down-grade. It was not, how- 

 ever, to be assumed that the potato was rapidly disappearing for good. It 

 seemed that Scotland had conditions which could maintain a particular 

 variety in better health than could be done in the South. There was 

 great deterioration in all potatoes, due to climatic alteration. It might 

 be extremely slow, but it would be quicker where the soil did not suit the 

 variety. They could not expect otherwise where their methods produced 

 artificial causes of deterioration which were not inherent in the potato. 

 They aggravated any inherent weakness there might be by transplanting 

 the plant to strange conditions ; and then they found that when new 

 varieties were excessively " boomed " it led to their being introduced to 

 places which were not fit for them, thus encouraging the idea that there 

 was deterioration. 



Mr. Baker said he had done very well with potato seed which he got 



