The Conway log cabin., 1901-08-20
SAVING THE POTATO.
Unless Science Interferes This Val
 uable Food Will Run Out.
Its Extinction Threatened Throu3 h the Propagation for Many Gem eratioas Through Buds-
 Facts About the Seed

If there should be no more sugar
 cane in the world, beets might be cultivated to take it's place entirely, but If there were no longer any po- tatoes, the domestic economy of thou sands of humble homes would be seri- ously 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 degenerate and finally eX- l tinct has for some time been recog- nized i'll botanical labora tories all over the world. In this country the botani- | cal department of Harvard university
 has gone into the matter with a good deal of thoroughness, and eXperi- ments have been undertaken to per petuate these valuable species, says the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 The danger lies in the fact that both have been propagated for so many 1 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. For d | century or more, during which repro 1 ducton from buds can be successful- | ly continued, the fact that the seeds l themselves become sterile or dwindle away and disappear, does not seem | particularly important. Finally, how ever, there comes d time, like the | present, when a whole species shows signs of the deterioration which pre- cedes extinction, and it is then only by crossing one plant with another l plant, or one variety with another va riety, that the life of the species can be renewed. But if the plant has lost it's seed-producing faculty. such cross ing is evidently impossible. and the degeneration must continue to it's logical result.
 Sugar cane is, of course, one of the most valuable and important of agri- cultural products. It is at present grown in all warm countries, and the plants for 90 or 100 plant generations have been started from the buds which spring from the joints of the cane. A section of the stalk contain ing one of these generatiye joints iS planted and a new stalk or group springs up. the plantation being thus maintained by portion of it's prod ucts. Meanwhile, as the plants ma ture, they put forth blossoms, which, though as beautiful as they ever were, perhaps. are meaningless and nnfruit- ful. When il was discovered by the botanistS that the sugar cane was los ing it's power to produce fruitful seeds, it was realized that such loss meant inbreeding. as it would be called in the case of animals. and that. unless some artificial means of restoration could be employed. the species would eventually run out.
 The potato is among the cheapest of all the cultivated foods, and while it is generally known that it is re- produced by budding, pieces of the tuber containing "eves' being plant ed in the ground. most readers will be surprised to learn that potato seed is an almost unheard-of curiosity. In l the museum of economic botany at 1 Harvard there are models of potato 1 plants including the pink and white l blossoms and the grape-like fruit, but this Seedcontaining fruit has become so nearly extinct that few people, even from the agricultural districts of the country, have ever seen it. In the models. however. it is clearly shown that the potato is closely related tc l the tomato. and the two-celled ar rangement of seeds is very similar in l the original fruit of both plants.
 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 it is rule for the blossoms to wither without fructihcation, and even in the exceptional cases where fruit ap' pears it is generally seedless and bar ren. As rule the small amount of seed which now survives the degenera- ation of the plant is likely to rot away immediately. so that the greatest care and skill are required to secure the growth of seed plants. However as in the case of the sugar cane. as the common varieties are shown. by con. trast with the hybrids, to be less val uable, the warning of the botaniSts IS being needed and science is being called upon to point out the means of relief.