Until the 19th century, most varieties of potatoes grown in North America were introduced from Europe. Around 1750 in New England, potato cultivars were commonly named for the color and surface of the tuber's skin, such as "rough skin" or "flat white".
In 1770, names such as "reddish", "bluish", "white" and "French" potatoes are mentioned, the latter of which had a flattened shape.
The situation changed with the advent of the variety Neshannok. It was bred by John Gilkey and his younger brother James. Their parents immigrated to the United States in 1772. In 1798, John bought a 200-acre farm in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and the Gilkey brothers began growing potatoes. John planted red, white and blue tubers, crossed, got berries. In 1801 he sowed the first seeds.
The tubers in the offspring from crossings were multi-colored and small (some of them are "no larger than a pea"). Over the next few years, John made a series of selections and named his new strain Neshannock, after a nearby stream.
The tubers of the new variety were large and long, reddish-purple in color with streaks of the same color in the flesh. The color of the tubers usually disappeared after boiling. Gilkey also created several other interesting strains, including Red Mercer and Black Mercer.
By 1851, Neshannock was the top prize winner at fairs throughout the United States. During the Civil War, this variety was the favorite food of the soldiers.
By 1875, Idaho and Utah farmers were shipping potatoes by rail to California. Although this variety was then commonly known as "Brigham's potato", it was actually Neshannock.
In the second half of the 19th century, both in Europe and North America, work was underway to intensively breed new varieties.
Resistance to late blight was important, as well as to viruses such as "curl" (often a combination of PLRV and PVY). These diseases were then poorly studied, so the varieties tended to gradually degenerate. However, it has been observed that potatoes grown from real seeds generally do not suffer from curliness.
Tubers of new varieties were often sold at very high prices. For example, in 1868 one tuber of King of the Earlies cost $50. This led Henry Ward Beecher, in his essay on the potato mania, to speculate that "pick-and-pan miners may do well in the Rocky Mountains, but the true way to dig for gold in New York State is to let the potatoes do it for you." The combination of the lack of a certification system for seed potatoes and the introduction of many new varieties led to Neshannock's decline.
Several other new varieties introduced in the late 19th century, including Beauty of Hebron, Bliss Triumph, Early Ohio, Garnet Chili, Green Mountain, King of the Earlies, Rural New Yorker #2, and Russet Burbank, also contributed to the overthrow of Neshannok.
It is not known if this cultivar was used as parent forms for any of the modern cultivars. Unfortunately, it is currently lost. Nevertheless, he served as a model for subsequent varieties and left behind an interesting history that cannot be erased.
This is an abridged version of one of articles published in the American Journal of Potato Research.