12 BULLETIN 176, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 
there are rather extensive commercial plantings of the first two vari- 
eties. The Blue Victor is grown only as a novelty or for family use 
at the present time. It matures somewhat later than either the | 
Pearl or the People’s. 
Owing to the pronounced variation in the color of the fate and, | 
to a lesser extent, in the color of the stems between the Blue Victon 
and the other two varieties, it has been deemed advisable to divide 
the group into two sections. | 
Description.—Vines medium to large, strong, healthy and as a rule well branched; 
stems dark green (in section 2 streaked with purple), more or less upright in early 
stages of growth, but gradually assuming a somewhat decumbent position as the vine | 
approaches maturity. According to Fitch,! the main stem of the Pearl should assume | 
a more or less horizontal position and the lateral branches an upright position. Leaves | 
medium to large in size, rather flat, somewhat rugose, and approaching dark green | 
when well grown. Flowers white. Tubers medium to large, solid fleshed and heavy, | 
round-flattened to heart-shape flattened, usually heavily shouldered and broader at 
the stem end. Under unfavorable eendiaene the tubers seem to have a decided 
tendency to elongate and become less flattened. Eyes rather shallow, sometimes 
protuberant, or in off-type specimens inclined to be deep with heavy eyebrows. 
The bud-eye cluster in a normal specimen is shallow, while in an abnormal one it is 
usually distinctly receding. When freshly dug, the Pearl has a distinct pinkish or | 
light-purple tinge arotind the eyes, particularly at the seed end; exposure to the light | 
or prolonged storage seems to reduce the color to such an extent that it is scarcely, if 
at all, visible. Skin varying from a dull white or a dull russet or brownish white, in | 
the case of the Pearl and People’s, to a deep violet-blue, with few, many, or no creamy- | 
white splashes, particularly around the eyes (as in Blue Victor). Sprouts have base, _ 
leaf scales, and tips slightly or distinctly suffused with light lilac in the Pearl and 
People’s, while those of the Blue Victor are a vinous mauve. A comparison of Plate 
XVII and of figures 1 and 2 of Plate XVIII discloses the remarkable similarity in 
shape of the Pearl and Blue Victor tubers. 
As previously stated, the varieties belonging to this group are 
classified as follows: Section 1.—Pearl and People’s. Section 2.— 
Blue Victor. 
11._PEACHBLOW GROUP. 
The potatoes of the Peachblow group have in the past occupied a | 
very prominent place among the cultivated varieties, but at the | 
present time they are little grown commercially outside of a rather 
restricted area in Colorado and in a limited way as a late crop in Mary- 
land and Virginia. Most of the older people of the present generation 
can remember when the Old Jersey Peachblow was a popular home 
and commercial variety, but, like most other widely grown varieties 
of its time, it seems to have had its day and is now rarely found, 
except in the collections of the older amateur potato enthusiasts. 
This group is characterized by the extreme health and vigor of its — 
vines. It includes some early varieties, but they are mostly late | 
1Fitch, C. L. Productiveness and degeneracy of the Irish potato. Colo. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 176,16 — 
p., illus., 1910. 
