The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1884-04-10
Do Potatoes Run Out /!

Il is well known fact that potatoes
run out" as it is lid; that is, that a
varie V excellent III every respect, pro-
life In We d, fine in quality, and robust
in constitu iol, and therefore all C to
resist disc ase, after II mum Ter of Y, ar,
yields less and lie in quantity, becomes
poo er in quality, sometimes, and
sometime it reta ms its exc. lleEce in
this respoc. to the lastN, and is also ub-
lie to destructive diseas 5. If we 90
over the list we Nigh 90 buck to the
old Me C r, the n shamrock Of tn
Western It ties. where we ha e rails d
coo bushels and over to the re of this
good old kind, but which has long
been abandone /. I he p, achblow, the
finest kind at one time that was ever
grown, as We believe, for its soundness,
vigor. great yie'd, and especially it
deliciously real potato flavor, VIII oh
even row makes it the standard il this
sp ct by which new va ieti are
Judged and compared this has gone
too, and is now forgotten exc pit by t
older farmers, who still mourn It's 10 s.
We might IN ntion the Prince Alb 1T,
the Lapst ne Kidney, tie Blue p tato,
the ii keye, and some other kinds,
which Wee al fine in quality and prf-
liable to grow, but whose glory ha de
parted. Then about twenty yea o
appeared Early Rose which was
hailel as fit succe sor, in all respects,
even to the Mercer and the Peachbl)w,
and of which 500 or 600 bushels p
acre we e easily grown, and which ha'
zen easily worth a thOusa million
dollars to the world since It's introduce
ton. 1t VS. proof aga INST tie rot. too,
and in tn respcc, possibly, So ed the
country from a potato anime. But
after few years it dwindled in its
ED, lost its high favor, and became
infect d w. h the fatal rot. But, never
tn less. it is yet the most popular and
prevail NC variety, and we think prom
Uses to be, so long IS eflo. IS ar directed
in the way of raising seedlings from it
to replace it.
For the is close analogy between
animals and plan in res, ect of Their
breed ng. if we may e tn term in re-
gard to vege ables. Line breeding, II
is known, tends to weaken the constitu-
ton of animals and to deteriorate their
quality. And if we look at the meth
DDS of propagating the potato that are
in vogue, we shall find that they rar-
take very much of the chal acter of line
breeding. An eye of the potato is a
bud, and the potato of to-day is a direct
continuation of that of twenty years ago
without the Introduction of any new
blood. so to speak. This m thod of
growing potatoes has been compared
with the grating or budding of trees,
but it is not at all analogous, for in
growing potatoes W. continue the same
stock all through from one year to an
other, while in budding or grating we
use the bud or wood of one individual
upon tn, stock of another, and the sap,
of the fore On stock furnishes the mat
ter of which the new growth is formed.
the bud being simply the agent of this
Transmission. The potato, on the other
hand, has no foreign matter incorporat-
ed into it; the cells of the parent eve
themselves furnish the substance from
which new cells form and of which the
increased growth consists. 1t is simply
extension of the parent cell from sub
stance drawn from the soil by itself, and
without any transmission through unre-
lated or foreign issue.
This continuous self-reproduction
seems to be the cause of the deteriora-
ton of which the first SYMPTOM is exhit.
tied in the absence of seed, clear ind
cation of weakened vitality. Then pro-
du.ton is lessened, and finally the
variety becomes prey to parasites, in
ternal and external, and the pant rap
idly becomes unable to reproduce itself
rrofitably, and is then extinguished
This is natures way to prevent the pro-
pagation of weaklings and to increase
the chances of life by multiplying varie-
ties. But in the effort to initiate nature
in the production of new varieties we
should follow her plans exactly, and
let the weakened variety go and take
up vigorous new kiud as the source of
seed which has not been subjected to
the process by which the old one has de-
generated. If we should follow this
plan, then we should not look TO any
old and weak variety for seed from
which to originate new kinds, but rather
take up some of the harder, coarser,
and neglected kinds which are prolific
(such, for ms ance, as the Red Merino)
as the parent from which to procure
new seedlings.-H. S,eWart, IN ~ J.
Times.