The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1943-11-11
GARRETT COUNTY
"SPUD" IS GIVEN
OFFICIAL NAME
Locally Developed Variety Is
Christened Potomac" At Rural
Urban Rotary Club Meeting

Plentifully using the water from
the headwaters of the north branch
of the Potomac river, obtained in
Garrett county, Miss Fannie Mae
Harvey, daughter of Earl K, Harvey,
one of the large potato producers of
this area, appropriately christened the
new potato developed near here as the
Potomac" at the rural-urban meet
ing of the Oakland Rotary club last
Friday evening at the William-James
hotel.
The occasion was attended by
thirty-five members of the Rotary
club and similar number of Gar
rett county potato producers who
were their guests, and a few others.
Highlighting the program was the
official naming of the new variety Of
potato developed on the DeBeny
farm north of Oakland during the
past several years by DR.. r. A. Jehle,
potato specialist, University of Mary
land, in cooperation with the EXten-
sion Service. 1t was the first time,
DR.. Jehle said, that potato had been
so developed worthy of commercial
use, in this county, and was named
potomac" as symbolic of the entire
area.
The 1913 yield of this variety was
officially placed by DR.. Jchle at Gao
bushels per acre, with a scven-year
average of 372 bushels per acre. He
said the tops were resistant to hop
per burn and the tops and tubcrs had
resistance to late blight. He said it
showed promise of being most valu-
able potato for not only general grow
crs but for gardeners or small grow
crs who cannot do a thorough job of
spraying. The threc-year average for
the same variety, unsprayed, was 1913
bushels per acre.
The new potato is cross between
the Rural New Yorker and the Kat
ahdin and is the result of potato test
ing work which has been carried on
in this county for eleven years.
Baked potatoes of the new variety
were served as a part of the dinner.
w. B. Kemp, acting director of the
University of Maryland Experiment
Station spoke briefly on the value of
fertilizer applications and pointed out
the opportunities for Garrett county
potato growers in specializing in seed
stocks to furnish other areas. during
the postwar era Of the future.
DR.. F. B. Bomhcrger, state CO.
ordinator of markets, was the prin-
cipal speaker, and after pointing out
the tremendous amount of money,
energy and labor spent by the world
for destructive purposes, gave pic
turc of what could be accomplished if
that same. effort were directed in a
pcacc-timc world. He declared that a
certain amount of rationing, control
and restrictions were necessary even
after the war until we get back to
normal, and that many times people
were being called on to do the i'm
possible things, but the times demand
that we go ahead and do them.
He said there was need at this time
for people to be good citizens, a need
to think in terms of the entire world,
and need to plan for neacc-tmc con-
sumption.
John IT, Carter, county agent. and
in charge of the program, outlined
briefly the steps in cooperative work
among potato producers in the coun-
ty, beginning back in 1929. Several
years later the Rotary Club spon-
sored potato projects and became IN
tercsted in Improvement of the potato