THE POTATOR.

Inangahua Times, Volume II, Issue II, 3 December 1880, Page 2

THE POTATOR.

« One of the mo*t remarkable statements wli -h we have s^en respecting the potato is the following, which we clip from a late number of a respected contemporary :— 'It is said those who claim to knew tbat the eyes near the base are the male ,and those oa the upper part the female, the number on each being in right proportion. If this be so, it is clear that every eye should be plan* ! ted.' The eyes of a potato male and female! The same writer (Mr C. E. Hewe*) say«: — ' Any farmer can tell j how corn gets mixed — the process of mixing potatoes (tubers) i3 the same.' (I) Again he says, ' No one doubts that melons, cucumbers squashes, and pumpkins mix — the pollen being carried by the wind, &c.' The kernel of corn is the seed — the ovary, m fact — and the effects of crossing are evident at or before maturity. Melons do mix, but only throngh the seed. Hence the effects of crossing are never evident except in the fruit from the mixed seed. Mr Uewes takes for granted that any intercrossing between the flowers of different potatoes affects the tubers, a^d that in this way « hybrids ' may and do occur. And yet this same writer regards the publica* tion of ' single experiments not only as impositions .but outrages !'—Rural Xew Yorker.