Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-05-27
TO RIV AL BERRIES
BURBANK EXPECTS TO MAKE
sPUDs AS TooTHsoME AS
SUMNER FRUIT.
New Variety Of Potatoes to be Grown
by Veteran California Tuber King
The New Fruit is Named the "Pom-
alto" and Its Meat is White.

To that vast multitude Of people,
whose taste for the toothsome potato
can only be satisfied by daily indulg-
ence, the following article from Santa
Rosa, Cal concerning the experiments
of Mr.. Burbank, will be of interest.
Burbank expects to cultivate the po
tato in such way as to grow tubers
as toothsome as strawberries:
The Article.
Burbank Is making some expert
ments to produce new potatoes-tub-
ers that may eclipse any other yet Civ
en- to man. 1t may seem almost incom-
prehensible to the average reader,
should a statement be made that Mr..
Burbank has more than 1000 varieties
of potatoes with which he is expert
menting. yet such is the fact. And
out of these thousands of all sorts and
conditions of tubers are to come the
newer and better varieties that may
completely revolutionize the potato
crops of the world.
Burbank has produced potato
fruit Briefly summarized, the evolu-
ton is a matter of planting a tuber
and gathering from the potato vine a
luscious white fruit, one that is de-
lightfully palatable and makes an 'ex-
cellent preserve.
| Mr.. Burbank has named the potato
| fruit aPomato." When compared with
a tomato the pomato is smaller in size
and it's meat is white instead of red,
and it is higher favored In other
words, it's flavor is that OF. fruit rather
than vegetable.
New Tuber Will Be Perfect.
Burbank speaks of the creation Of
the pomato as resulting from the"turn-
ing of the plant life in an opposite d.
rection." Instead of cultivating tubers
we now cultivate fruit and the tubers
are of secondary consideration, the
fruit on the vine being the main OBJ
ject. The pomato, as stated has been
produced by Mr.. Burbank, but it has
not been sent out as yet. 1t must be
perfected before it leaves it's creators
hands for the world at large.
Chief among the experimental work
tubers, we now cultivate fruit, and the
solanum commersoni, a wild species
of the potato which grows on the Mer-
cedes river in South America, with
the common potato. The fore-named
potato was discovered some ten years
ago, and specimens were taken to
| Paris. and almost a decade ago, DR..
Heckel, studied and tried to hybridize
them. Finally he sent Luther Bur.
bank single eye and in twelve
months after the distinguished scien-
fist commenced his experiments he
secured 100 hybrid settings from it.
Burbank is also experimenting with
another new species of tuber. the So
lanum magli, which grows on the west
coast of Africa in the mountain alti-
tudes. He also has other varieties in
Guiding the hardy potatoes that. grow
! in some parts of the mountains of Old
Mexico. The hardy qualities of these
wild potatoes" SO to speak, are being
combined with the ordinary tuber,
which has, to certain extent, almost
run its race of service. Here is the
kind OF new potato Mr.. Burbank will
produce. 1t will be BETTER in quality,
better in flavor, more productive and
of more even size, SO as to do away
with small potatoes" altogether; and
a potato that will resist the various
diseases known to these tubers.
About how many varieties of pota-
toes nave you on hand now, Mr.. Bur
bank, with which you are experiment.
ing to produce the new potatoes?" he
was asked.
over 10000" was the ready re.
spouse. Most of the 10000 varieties
are hybridizings of Mr.. Burbanks own
creation. These have been produced
by the crossing. followed by careful
inspection, testing and selecting.
Recently Mr.. Burbank commenced
] the planting of the 10000 varieties on
his experimental grounds The pota-
toes are of all kinds and shapes, some
round, some square, some long, some
short, of all colors. There are pure
white tubers and black ones. Pink,red.
crimson, purple and yellow are among
the colors of the potatoes being
planted. There are in the varieties
those that yield early in the season,
and those that come late