cowhorn potato

[peispud]

Anyone ever hear of cowhorn potato? I came upon its
name and description and want to see if it is out there.
Cowhorn potato - purple skin, yellow flesh, very tasty
grows to 10"x2" in size. Any SSE members have it?

Peter

[Tom Wagner]

Anyone ever hear of cowhorn potato? I came upon its name and description and want to see if it is out there.
Cowhorn potato - purple skin, yellow flesh, very tasty
grows to 10"x2" in size. Any SSE members have it?

I first tried the Cowhorn potato when I was up at Fred Ashworth's place near Heuvelton, NY where he kindly gave me a tuber of it and the Rough Purple Chili. That was 1970. I grew it for a while but it was full of virus and I had to drop it. The next time I grew in was 2004, and I found it low yielding and it made no potato berries.

I put together a bit of research on the Cowhorn potato, and condensing it as follows:


(Will) Bonsall's potato collection was soon intrigued by the Cowhorn potato, a northern New England heirloom with a long skinny shape like a cow's horn and purple skin. As most folks know, he has been a big SSE member.


Cow Horn falls into the category of Specialty potatoes

• Those varieties of potatoes exhibiting unusual skin color, flesh color, and/or tuber shapes

• Marketed as such (for a premium price).
• Skin colors can range from cream, white, tan, brown, yellow, orange, pink, red, purplish red, purple, purple-black.
• In partially-colored tubers, these colors may be confined to the eyes only, eyebrows only, splashed, spectacled, scattered or stippled.
• Flesh colors also run from white, cream, pale yellow, yellow, deep yellow, orange, pink, red, violet or purple.
• Secondary colors as scattered spots, scattered areas, vascular ring, medulla, or flesh except the medulla.
• Flesh combinations of colorsm splashed or splotched.
• Specialty shapes may include fingerling and (cowhorn shapes).
• Some specialty varieties are heirloom varieties with origins in South and Central America.

Cowhorn –

• "Late-season, or Mid –Late depending on observer
• Fingerling tubers with pointed tips, dark-purple skin
• Dry, mealy, white flesh in some descriptions, otherwise low gravity- Specific gravity is 1.069
• Valued as a 'quick bake' baking potato
• Good storage.
• Excellent resistant to common scab and late bright (I didn’t see this).
• Cowhorn is also known under the synonyms Purple Cowhorn and Seneca Cowhorn.
• Listed as a fingerling in most databases
• Low yielding.
• It is a heritage variety with uncertain origins, but it has been grown in New York state since before 1853.
• There is some speculation that it might have been developed in Vermont.
• There is further speculation that it might be identical to La Crotte d’Ours (Bear Droppings), a Canadian heritage variety, thought to have roots to Scotland.
• Source in Canada from Antoine d'Avignon of Pintendre, Quebec. Antoine who in turn obtained it from Mr. Louis-Marie Ouellet of St.-Onesime de Kamouraska,Quebec who also obtained it from his grandfather.
• More info, pix below

(Potato Gene Resources Newsletter, 2001).

http://www.jardinpotager.com/2003Cro...plantation.JPG

Tom Wagner

[cdntomato]

Peter, no can-do getting potato starts from outside Canada unless you're in the gov or willing to draw from deep pockets to pay the gov for the privilege. If you are a member, you might want to check out the SODC annual and Garrett Pittinger's collection. I'll look into PGRC for you; Will has worked with both Garrett and PGRC's potato genebank in NB in the past.

I'm looking for a good source for Red Gold and Ruby Gold. May end up at U of Goo in the end...but if you know someone selling single drops in PEI, then I'm interested.

Thank you, Tom, for providing a wealth of information, as is usual.

Jennifer, not willing to admit that she'd be interested in Canuck 'Bear Droppings' :>)
but very willing to celebrate 2008 as International Year of the Potato
http://www.potato2008.org/

[peispud]

Thanks Tom for the fast response and the massive information on that variety. Now I really want it after reading all that data and it's nice to see it is a good baking potato as that's the best way to eat a spud. A pre-1853 variety would be great to grow and share (or just eat).

Jennifer thank's for that info as I was hoping to shop at
Tom's Tater-Mater site if it ever opens but now I know I
wouldn't be allowed to get them
Those Bear Droppings would be great, but my grand-kids would be sniffing my plate to see if it was real droppings.
If you do get some let me know. I bet some of the Americans are thinking that we Canadians will eat anything; anything except hockey pucks!

But the links from both of you are great as once I remember
some of my 5 years taking french in school I might be able
to translate some parts. That pdf file with the pictures of
the varieties is great too.

I know 2008 is the year of the spud: make sure everyone
knows that PEI grows the best!


Peter

[Tom Wagner]

62.JPG


KHUCHI AKITA from Bolivia

Looks much like a perfect Cowhorn.

This is a fresh potato dug back in July and washed. Left in the ground with the dirt on it would look like the La Crotte d’Ours.

I have many many crosses and segregations of this line to get assorted colors and shapes.

I would probably put this in the available tubers in a website listing.

[cdntomato]

Peter, I would like to be a position to PAY Tom for the Canadian rights to his stuff. Sigh. When/if Tom relaunches Tater Mater or =, I'm going to be pounding pavement and doors. Currently, I looking into obtaining the Cdn rights for a USDA certified organic potato sprout inhibitor. I'm not big into controlling patents and rights, but believe that breeders, like farmers, should be paid and recognized, fully and fairly.

With that picture, there's no need for a French translation. Thanks, Tom, I think. :>)

Jennifer, who used to live up North in bear country.

[peispud]

Tom, that Bolivian potato looks great. I can just imagine
that baked, and split open with a big dab of butter on it.
If I only knew someone going to the States this spring
I could buy a suitcase full of samples to bring home
Do you sell seed for people that can't get seed potatoes?
PM me if that's possible.

Peter

[Tom Wagner]

I find that a lot of the Farmer's Market folks in my local area seem to like my potatoes in the NW Washington area and they claim they have not had any disease problem. Some of my test marketing was done through a Pdf thing called Tom's Taters, but I need to see if I can edit that for this spring.

International border crossing of potatoes is so difficult that I try not to even go there. I have three varieties in nuclear generation seed potato classes, in other words, no detected virus, etc. The rest of my clones are visually inspected by myself in storage, at planting, as the plants grow, and at harvest. I guess by hard work, isolation and experience, I escape many pathogenic problems.

The TPS procedure is still the best way for folks to try new types of potatoes. True potato seed works for me since I get disease free plants and generally, disease free tubers unless there is some unknown latent infection.

My goal is to put an information website with limited variety availabilities.

Tom

[cdntomato]

An information site would be wonderful, Tom. Please let us know when that happens.

What are the issues of concern with getting starts in vivo?

Thanks, Jennifer