January 9. 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
23 
j S A™ D 9 A im ‘SChe Gardening "World. 
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EDITORIAL NOTES. 
The Potato Boom. 
The buying and selling of the new Potatos 
at present in favour is still being boomed to- 
a remarkable degree, and unless Orchids 
take a fresh leap they will be displaced ini 
the public favour by the new and reputedly 
lisease-resisting Potato®,. They came up in 
strong force at the Cattle Show at the Agri¬ 
cultural Hall last week, and, from all 
accounts Eldoradoi took the lead. It is said 
that some of them were sold at 450 sove¬ 
reigns per lb. This isi practically about eight 
times the value of pure gold, representing a 
value of £1,018,000 per ton. The explanar 
jtion of this extraordinary price is that it 
-existed disease with remarkable success 
luring the past season, which has been, so 
lisastrous to Potatos in Britain, but par¬ 
ticularly in Lincolnshire. Cultivators reckon 
that twelve years is the lifetime of a Potato, 
after which its constitution becomes so im¬ 
paired that it is unable to resist the inroads 
of disease during wet seasons. We think, 
however, that if inducement is given to pro¬ 
pagate these new varieties with such extrar 
ordinary rapidity as has been done the last 
season, or two, the constitution of the 
varieties will be impaired before the natural 
period of twelve years has expired. 
— o 
National Potato Society. 
The vagaries of the season and the variable 
fortunes of the Potato during the past season 
have brought the noble tuber into, great pro¬ 
minence, and for some time past, as we have 
indicated in our pages, there has been an in¬ 
tention to form a society specially in the 
interesife. of the Potato. With this object 
in view, a large party of Potato' grower's and 
others interested in it assembled at the Hotel 
Windsor, Westminster, on tire 30th ult., and 
took steps towards founding a National 
Potato' Society. Mr. A. D. Hall, the super¬ 
intendent of the Rothamsted experiments, 
took the chair, and submitted some convinc¬ 
ing reasons why such a society should be 
brought into being. One of these argu¬ 
ments was the necessity for obtaining -en¬ 
tirely unbiassed information as to the 
quality, name and class of new introductions 
or reputedly new varieties. An important 
consideration was the proposal to establish 
trials of Potatos in different parts of the 
country with the object of ascertaining hoiv 
they would, behave under different conditions 
a,s to 1 soil and,climatic influences. At pre¬ 
sent- 'trials were made by various county 
councils and agricultural colleges', but most 
of them simply went over the same ground. 
The society would do well to associate itself 
with isiuch experiments and tabulate the re¬ 
sults, and the, time spent, would be of some 
real service to the industry. Investigations 
concerning the Potato disease could also' be 
undertaken a® well as a study of its varying 
qualities. Mr. W. Pj Wrights to whom the 
foundation of the society is largely due, gave 
an outline of the proposed organisation. It, 
was proposed to ask Lord Rosebery toi accept 
office as president, but the chief work would 
be done by an executive comm it fee, of which 
Mi-. Hall might be chairman. It wais alsol 
intended to have a, local secretary for each 
county in which trials might be instituted. 
After some discussion, it was formally de¬ 
cided without a dissenting voice to form a 
society. In after conversation Mr. Hall 
stated that, half the Potato's which come 
out with a great flourish were discovered to 
be old Potato® under new namesi, or importa- 
tions from some other source. By classify¬ 
ing the various sorts in cultivation and mak¬ 
ing certain about the correct names, it will 
be possible to> detect the new varieties that 
are brought forward, and also check the dis¬ 
semination of old varieties under new names. 
The Potato in recent years had' greatly in¬ 
creased in importance, a,s many farmer® had 
undertaken, Potato' growing a® their staple 
business instead of ordinary farming. Those 
who do so soon discover that Potato® after 
a number of years are liable to wear out; 
that is, they become so weakened constitu¬ 
tionally as to be liable to destruction by 
disease. To counteract this it was necessary 
to raise entirely new varieties that would be 
disease resisting, while they retained their 
vigour at all events. One of the chief 
object® of the society would be to test these 
new varieties. Mr. W. P. Wright was 
elected secretary. 
British Fruit Culture. 
The past season has been, so disastrous to 
certain crop's that -the Potato is not alone in 
the matter of requiring investigation as to 
its future prospects- and cultivation in this 
country. On the same day as the Potato 
Society was inaugurated it was announced 
that the President of the- Board of Agricul¬ 
ture had appoint,ed a Departmental Com¬ 
mittee to inquire into the present position 
of fruit culture in. Great Britain, and to sub¬ 
mit a report- upon the same. It would seem 
that the- three chief enemies of fruit culture 
in! this country are climate, parasite®, and 
transit of the fruit to, the markets' when 
harvested. From Roden, Shropshire, comes 
a, complaint that the Co-operative Whole¬ 
sale Society there ha® veiy extensive planta¬ 
tions of Plums, Strawberries, Raspberries, 
Currant bushes, and hundred® and thousands 
of Tomato plant®. After every care had 
been taken the balance-sheet showed a, loss 
upon the business. Similar com plaint® 
come in from other important fruit farms in 
Kent, and Cambridge. The climate is a 
matter which can only be dealt, with in a, 
very limited way. Some propose that the 
Government should establish a, laboratory 
for the purpose of investigating and dealing 
with the question of parasite®. Tire ques¬ 
tion, of transit will have to be settled by 
railway companies and others continually 
pressing for a solution, of it. For short dis¬ 
tances there are those who think that the 
motor will come to the assistance of the fruit 
grower. 
Willow Bark for Smoking. 
The American Indians have long been in 
the habit of smoking the bark of a shrub 
termed the red Willow. The “ Atlantic 
Slope Naturalist ” shows that the shrub is 
not a Willow at all, but one of the Cornels 
or Dogwoods,—namely, Comus sericea. This 
species grows over a wide area of North 
America, and appears to be the one most 
preferred by the Indians for smoking. The 
young twigs are furnished with a reddish- 
purple bark, readily mistaken for a Willow 
by those who are not botanists. 
