South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-02-21
To What Family Do Your
Potatoes Belong
Greater Familiarity With This Vegetable VIII Enable
Growers to Detect Present Practice of Making
New Varieties From Old.

WASHINGTON, d. c., Feb. 20
ITO what family do your potatoes
belong?" The farmer who desires to
know may obtain some enlightment
from a bulletin Of the United states
department of agriculture. entitled
Group Classification and Varietal
Descriptions of Some American Po-
tatoes." This is a professional paper
and deals in detail with each potato
family considered.
A more intimate knowledge of the
potato is much to be desired, not only
by scientists, but by the farmers who
grow them. If the latter can recOg-
niZe old varieties under new names,
he will not be deceived by the present
practice of some seedsmen who man
ufacture new varieties from old ones.
The bulletin does not claim to pre-
sent a completed classification of all
American potatoes, but endeavors to
onerea list that may prove a starting
point upon which to enlarge later on.
The bulletin gives the following
classification key" briefly describing
each of IL groups:
Classification Key.
GROUP 1-COBBLER.
Tubers: Roundish; skin creamy
white. Sprouts: Base, leaf scales.
and tips slightly or distinctly tinged
with reddish violet or magenta. In
many cases the color is absent. Flow
ers: Light rose-pUrple; under intense
heat may be almost white.
GROUP triumph.
Tubers: Roundish; skin creamy
white, with more or less numerous
splashes of red, or carmine, or solid
red; maturing very early. Sprouts:
Base, leaf scales, and tips more or less
deeply suffused with reddish violet
Flowers: Very light rOse-purple.
GROUP 3-EARLY MICHIGAN.
Tubers Oblong or elongated
tened; skin white or creamy white
occasionally suffused with pink
around bud-eye cluster in Early AL
bino. Sprouts: Base light rose-pur-
pie; tips creamy white or light rose
purple. Flowers: White.
GROUP 4-ROSE.
Tubers: Roundish Oblong to elon-
gate-fattened or spindle shape fiat
tened; skin flesh cOlored or pink, OF
white. Sprouts: Base and internodes
creamy white to deep rose-lilac; Leaf
scales and tips cream to rose-lilac
Flowers: White in sections l and 2:
rose-lilac in section 3.
GROUP 5-EARLY OHIO.
Tubers: Round, oblong, or ovoid;
skin flesh cOlOred or light pink, with
numerous small, raised, russell dots
Sprouts: Base. leaf scales, and tips
more or less deeply suffused with car
mine-lilac to violet or magneta. Flow
ers: White.
GROUP 6-HEBRON.
Tubers: Elongated, somewhat fat
J tened, sometimes spindle shaped
! skin creamy white, more or less
clouded with flesh color or light pink
| Sprouts: Base creamy white to light
lilac: leaf scales and tips pure mauvt
to magenta, but color sometimes alb
sent. Flowers: White.
GROUP 7-BURBANK.
Tubers: Long. cylindrical to some
what fattened. inclined to be slightly
! spindle-shaped; skin white to light
creamy white, smooth and glistening
or deep russell in the case of section 2
| Sprouts: Base creamy white or faint
| ly tinged with magenta; leaf scales
and tips usually lightly tinged with
magenta. Flowers: White.
GROUP SCREEN MOUNTAIN.
Tubers: Moderately to distinctly
| oblong, usually broad, fattened; Skin
| a dull creamy or light russell color
! frequently having rusSet-browr
/ splashes toward the seed end
and tips creamy white: section 2, base
with magenta leaf scales and tips
ers: White.
! GROUP 9-RURAL.
Tubers: Broadly round -1attened tC