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WWW.POTATOGROWER.COM 27 fertility barriers that preclude successful pollinations between some individuals. Future potato breeding efforts, especially hybrid breeding, will benefit from recovering fertility in potato. Crosses that produce a larger number of vigorous offspring will increase breeding efficiency and will allow breeders to effectively use computer-based tools for variety improvement. A greater number of seeds per pollination, in this case carried out by hand rather than by bees, will also decrease the labor involved in producing hybrid true potato seed from selected parents. A field of potatoes in full flower is a beautiful sight. Our perception of those flowers might change before long as we better appreciate how flowers give rise to seeds, and how hybrid seeds can be grown to produce new varieties. This story is based on an open-access research article titled "Genetic and Environmental Factors Contributing to Reproductive Success and Failure in Potato" that was published in the American Journal of Potato Research in January 2021. Paul Bethke is a molecular biologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and an associate professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He can be contacted at paul.bethke@ars.usda.gov. Shelley Jansky (shjansky@wisc.edu) is a research geneticist with the Vegetable Crops Research Unit and a professor in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. PG The Burbank Potato Luther Burbank related the story of how his Burbank potato came about. He spotted a berry on a potato plant in his mother's garden, watched it develop, almost lost it when it fell from the vines, found it after much searching, and ultimately planted the 23 seeds that were inside. One of those seeds grew to become the "The Burbank Seedling," as it was called when it was first marketed in 1876. What we often fail to note is that seeing a potato berry at that time was a rarity. Twenty-three is a very small number of seeds compared to the several hundred seeds that result from a cross between fertile parents. Marketing the new variety as a seedling emphasized how uncommon it had become to develop varieties this way. The Burbank Seedling, and the chance mutation of it that we grow today as Russet Burbank, has been an extraordinary variety. Unfortunately, it has been almost useless as a parent in breeding programs because it carries with it the limitations of its time. It is nearly sterile as a male and has poor fertility as a female. THE BEST PRODUCTS • THE BEST SERVICE • THE BEST PRICE 208-356-4317 • WWW.MAUPINAG.COM 1217 S. RAILROAD AVE • SUGAR CITY, ID 83448 Celebrating 40 Years! SINCE 1982 A U T H O R I Z E D D E A L E R F O R ® Liquid Handling Products BANJO PARTS ROLLERS ROLLER CHAIN SPROCKETS BELTED CHAIN HYDRAULIC PARTS METAL SHAFTS HYDRAULIC MOTORS GEAR BOXES/ELECTRIC MOTORS BEARINGS BELTED CHAIN SPROCKETS 4097-1MaupinWelding12v.indd 1 4097-1MaupinWelding12v.indd 1 12/2/21 1:18 PM 12/2/21 1:18 PM