Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-09-13
THE WHITE POTATO
Recent Experiments of the
Agricultural Department.
PRODUCT OF URUGUAY
EXCELLENT RESULTS OBTAINED
BY EUROPEAN EFFORTS.
Attempts to Successfully Combat Dis
ease--What is Hoped to Be Accom-
plished by Hybridizing.

Important experiments are being made
by the Department of Agriculture with the
white potato. a vegetable which is said to
rank second to wheat alone in the food
supply of mankind. Thus, it is said, while
the bureau devoted to bugs is experiment
Ing with the Guatemalan ant and the
pesky boil weevil. the bureau of plant in
dustry Is working along lines looking to
the improvement of the potato varieties
and potato crops of Uncle Sans domains.
Wild Potato Of Uruguay.
One of the late novelties in potatoes is
the Solanum commersonii, or wild potato,
Of Uruguay, with which the department
Is experimenting. 1t was also stated by
officials of the bureau of plant industry
today that the department has a specialist
in Europe who is importing every specimen
OF the potato family which promises to be
an Improvement on the native product.
The worst disease of this vegetable the
official scientists have to deal with is
known as 1.-The potato rot'' or blight"
Several European varieties, said to be re-
sistant to this disease, have been imported
for experimental purposes. These include
a Wild potato. the leaves Of which have a
d1sagreeable odor which Is said to be so
obnoxious to the equally obnoxious potato
bug that the insect declines to tamper with
its foliage or the potato itself
BY hybridiZing or crossing the wild po-
tato with several good American varieties
the department hopes to bring about some
resistance in the combined potatoes to
which the diseases with which the vegeta-
Die has to contend, and which has in re-
cent years made serious inroads on the
potato crop.
Possibilities Of Potato Culture.
''The possibilities of potato culture in the
United States are hardly realized" said
Superintendent Woods of the bureau of
plant industry. I'm Europe the different
varieties of potatoes are used variously for
human food, animal food, for starch MAX
ing and for alcohol production. OF the
many European varieties, there is yellow
1eshed potato which is considered excellent
for food"
While the European yellow feshed pota-
to Is considered of excellent quality as an
edible, 1t is not probable, 1t is stated, that
It Will be introduced into the United States
to any great extent, IS the department Of
ficials say the American and English mar
kets demand a white feshed potato One
OF the main things this government is said
to be striving for is variety that will re-
sfst the dry stem rot"
The "Dry Stem Rot"
This disease attacks the base of the stem
Of the potato plant and entirely destroys
the crop. Tie loss from this cause in the
south, the west and the southeastern Sec
tons of the country during the past two
years is reported by the Department of
Agriculture to have been Exceedingly
heavy" The hope Of the department is to
produce by hybridizing and other scientific
means varieties that will be resistant to
this and other diseases. Some Of the Do
tato varieties which are now being expert
mented with by the chemists and experts Of
the department show considerable resist
ance, it is stated
In connection with the wild potato of
Uruguay. which Is the subject of much in
tereSt here Just now, It is stated officially:
In 1908. upon a farm that cultivated the
Solanum commersonu, the severest cryptic
gamic maladfes known made their appear
ance. yet 9S per cent OF the tubercles of
: OF the early rose potato only Is per cent
were good"
The Uruguay Product Abroad.
Consul Haynes ct Rouen, France, In re-
porting on the Uruguay white potato.
writes:
"This wild aquatic vegetable was intro
duced from the banks of the river Mercedes,
Uruguay, and distributed In France by
Prof. Heckel director of the Colonial In
stitute of Marseille. In its origineI state
the tubercle Is very bitter, but DR.. Heckel
prOnounces the results of four years OF
experiments with 1t marvellous.
The leaves are small and slender, some
what like those of the Irish potato. and the
flowers are abundant of pale violet color.
and very odorous, the perfume resembling
that of jasmine. New stems and ;tubercles
branch Off In every direction all the year,
and after one planting the plant perpetuates
itself from the broken roots left in the SOIL
Improvement Of the Product.
''The weight proper Chat is the tubercle)
weighs from 1 to 21k pounds and has yell
lowish, wrinkled skin. covered with Ienti-
GELS. which disappear after culture The
pulp. when cooked, has slight greenish
color. OF % taken by hazard and cooked
with their skins on In 1901, all were very
bitter; but Of 25 thus taken In 1903 only
were very bitter. bitter. eatable, good
and farinaceous. By peeling the number of
bitter and very bitter ones were diminished
by 10 to 20 per cent, while the number of
good and eatable ones were increased &C
cOrdingly. The roughness of the skin and the
number and size of the lenticels are usually
in proportion to the acridness of the tuber-
Giles. In spite of their bitter taste, ami
mails are fond of them, especially when
cooked
There are three varieties of Solanum
commersonii, characterized by the color of
the skin-the yellow. the rose and the violet.
The last, which is the best for human con-
sumption. presents the following character
fst1cs: Enormous and uninterrupted pro-
duction, absolute immunity from cryptic
gamic maladies. delicious flavor (much ap-
preciated by animals), adaptability to moist
soil and easy culture"
Experiments will be made at the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, it is said, with view
of eliminating wholly or in part its bitter
taste by crossing 1t with American varieties
and other means.
WOMEN BEATEN BY STRIKERS.