Potato Frauds Like the sweet pea, the potato has for
many years suffered from being the object of over-zealous hybridizers, with the inevitable result that many varieties, sold under new names at new prices, are in reality synonymous with older kinds. This state of confusion has also given the unscrupulous dealer a chance of galling a public• that cannot reasonably be expected to know that British Queen is identical with English Beauty, Great Scot with Dreadnought, Up to Date with Factor, and who in consequence often pays stiff prices for fancy names. The practice of cataloguing old stocks under new names and of introducing old varieties as perfectly new hybrids is de- spicable but unfortunately quite common. The existence of the Potato Synonym Committee has however been responsible during the last year for a revolution in the introduction of new varieties, for whereas twenty-live years ago as many as 75 per cent. of new varieties entered for trial at the Ormskirk station were in fact merely old stocks, in 1934 not a single entry proved to be false. The practice of deliberately false cataloguing however still goes on ; and since to the inexpe- rienced eye one potato is very like another, it seems likely to continue. Whether the committee issues a list of synonymous varieties in addition to its reports I do not know, but they would earn the gratitude of all potato-growers if they could make such a list freely available.
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