Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1909-10-29
Massachusetts Man Produces
Tubers of Great Superiority.
spends Years In Experimenting with
Various Vegetables and Makes
Many Wonderful Discoveries
His Catalogues Are Fine.

Montague, Mass.-Bug-proof pota-
to vines that show by analysis twice
the ratio of food products in them
over the average tuber.. cantaloupes
that run sixteen to forty-eight pounds.
peas that will be ready for picking in
half the time that green peas usually
require, corn in half dozen colors
and of attractive taste-these things
are some of the achievements of Rev.
Amos N. Somers, pastor of the little
Unitarian parish here. who has spent
years delving into the chemistry OF
nature and has accomplished what he
believes is a valuable thing for man.
kind, especially in potato culture, for
this is a necessity of necessities.
Mr.. Somers tells his story by say
ing that the potato rarely natures
seed and notes that the great potato
raising companies in Maine offer large
sums for small measure OF seed.
"Of course. everybody knows" he
continued, that potatoes grow from
planting the eye of the vegetable in
the ground in the spring. Hybridiza-
ton by mixing the pollen is not new
thing, but with the potato you can't
do 1t, for there's no pollen to mix.
So, after many years of trying. | have
evolved what | call graft hybridiza-
ton. The problem was harder. as the
potato grows below the ground. while
fruits and many vegetables grow
above and the stalks or stems can be
grated in the familiar way.
so one day it occurred to me to
| 4ho I,.cf OF q
surface of the ground. / took two
cuttings. sliced them off and then tas
tened them together with the bodies
of the tubers touching and the two
parts of the sprouts also lying close
against each other. Fastening these
together | planted them with the tor
of the graft just above the ground. Al
the juncture of the two a new cellular
tissue body grew. and from this new
variety of potato grew. | got this
new variey, which call the Standard
from a graft hybrid OF the Greer
mountain and the Lady Somers
named after my wife.
The Standard is a very smooth
skin potato. with eyes hardly sunkel
below the surface. This last tao
makes 1t an econom ical potato. 10
there is less waste in peeling 1t an,
the analysts shows 1t has just twic
the amount OF foodstuff in 1t an
} twice as much starch as the averag
potato. The average one shows |
to Is per cent. foodstuff. In bod
weight 100 of my potatoes will great
outweigh 100 potatoes of the ordinar
sort of the same size. and on busnt
/ measure the same difference occurs
: The Lady Somers got from the Earl
0 Rose and the old Delaware potatoes
d 1T was my study. of Darwin ths
n started me on this. | have watcne
Q, the work of Prof George J. Romano
= of England, the author of 'DarwinIsi
F After Darwin and have corresponds
with him, and have succeeded in th
where he failed. Profs. Geddes an
Thompson of Edinburgh are also
n the same line, but ! feel | have So
v passed them in results. My resui
: were first definite four years az
a after 35 years of trying.
The vine oil my potato has a p
culiar odor and is offensive to Il
potato bug. Tor 1t never goes ne
them. have taken bugs from plan
n OF the usual type In the next row
| my potato patch and put them on Il
III new vines and in half an hour | car
find one. and really feel have g
hold of a bug-proof potato Ii {
that's q big thing in itself. for To-