Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-06-29
POTATOES MAY DIE OUT-
Seeds Now So Rare as to Be Thought
Curiosity.

L rom the Albany, Argus.
If there should be no more sugar cane In
the world beets might be cultivated to take
its place entirely, but If there were no
longer any potatoes the domestic economy
Of thousands of humble homes would be
seriously deranged and the deprivation
would be considerable even on the most
luxurious table. That the sugar cane and
the potato are in danger of becoming de-
generate and finally extinct has for some
time been recognized In botanical labora-
tories all over the world. In this country
the botanical department of Harvard Uni
Versity has gone into the matter with a
good deal of thoroughness and expert
ments have been undertaken to perpetuate
these valuable species.
The records of rocks unearthed by the
biologists show that in former ages there
were many plants just there We're many
animals which have since become extinct
But the decadence of the sugar cane and
the potato is not natural, but rather re-
suits from the circumstances of their cul-
tivation. The danger lies in the fact that
both have been propagated for SO many
generations from buds-the sugar cane
from the joints of stalk and the potato
from the eyes of the tuber-that they have
almost lost the power of producing fruitful
seeds.
The potato, it is interesting to note, be-
longs to the nightshade family as its bO-
tanical name, 'Soanum tuberosum" indi-
Gates, the common poisonous nightshade
being the 'Solanum nigrum." The potato
has been found wild in Mexico and South
America, and was taken to England by Sir
Walter Raleigh toward the close of the six
teenth century. 1t is unnecessary to refer
to the enormous quantities Of potatoes an
nually eaten in Europe and America. 1t is
sufficient to say that when the potato dis
ease appeared In 1915 it produced a famine
In many localities, particularly in Ireland
where for years potatoes had been the
chief article of food among the lower
classes.
The potato is among the cheapest of all
the cultivated foods, and while it is gener-
ally known that it Is reproduced by bud
ding, pieces of the tuber containing "eyes'
being planted in the ground, most readers
will be surprised to learn that potato seed
Is an almost unheard-of curiosity In the
museum of economic botany at Harvard
there are models OF potato plants, including
the pink and white blossoms and the Crane
like fruit, but this seed-cont aiming fruit ha g
become SO nearly extinct that few people,
even from the agricultural districts of the
country. have ever seen it. In the models,
however, 1t Is clearly shown that the DO
tato Is closely related to the tomato. and
the two-cel1ed arrangement of seeds is very
similar in the original fruit Of both plants
From time to time new varieties of the
potato have been developed by the crossing
Of the seed, but this requires a somewhat
costly experiment, which Is quite as likely
to prove a failure as a success The first
years crop of tubers from planting Of
seed Is generally too small for commercial
use so that the seeding process has of late
years been almost entirely discontinued
The budding method Of propagation has
been carried on to such an extent that 1t
is the rule for the blossoms to wither
without fructifoation, and even in the ex-
ceptional cases where fruit appears it is
generally seedless and barren. It is largely
due to an enthusiastic horticulturist, Mr
Luther Burbank of Santa Rosa, Cal. that
the seed of the potato is today being per-
petuated. Mr.. Burbank has produced MANY
new and valuable varieties Of pIums
peaches and Strawberries by crossing. and
when it became known that the potato was
deteriorating and becoming ''half-witted,"
as Mr. Dandeno of the Harvard botanical
department has aptly expressed 1t, he went
to great pains to secure seeds to use in the
restoration of the species