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Old September 17, 2006   #2
Tom Wagner
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Jeff,

Thanks for your story about the Irish Cobbler.


Cobblers, one the great potato varieties in my opinion.

One of the first varieties of potatoes I worked with in breeding was the Irish Cobbler. I still have the my research paper done at the University of Kansas, of which it received an A, complete with photos of the Cobbler offspring. Some really good flavors in one clone as I remember.

Baron Ryokichi Kawada, interesting character in Hokkaido history:

Eight years spent in Scotland; Because of his English-speaking ability, Ryokichi was singled out to be sent, in 1878, to Glasgow. The only local product he brought back to Hokkaido was the Irish cobbler potato, popularized in Japan as the danshaku imo. I can see now where the name translation to “Baron” comes from.

Irish Cobbler, called "Danshaku" in Japanese was designated as a promoted variety in 1928 and is still the main variety accounting for more than 60 % of cultivated land of potato for direct consumer's consumption.

I was trying to figure out why the name “Danshaku” for the Baron. But then, alternate names given for this variety include: Cobbler, Early Beauty, Early Eureka, Early Dixie, Early Petrosky, Early Standard, Early Victor, Early Waubonsie, Eureka, Extra Early Eureka, First Early, Flourball, Fruehe Amerikaner, Happy Medium, Irish Daisy, New Early, New Early Standard, New White Victor, Nittany Cobbler, Per Jan, Potentate, Trust Buster. Lord, a “Cobbler” by any other name is still a “Cobbler” in my book.

An unidentified breeder in Massachusetts discovers Irish Cobbler variety from a sport of Early Rose - 1876.

The origin of Irish Cobbler is not positively known. Lore suggests it was first grown by Irish shoemakers in the northeastern U.S. It would be interesting if any researcher has done a DNA test to verify the linkage.

Irish Cobbler is a very early maturing variety that was widely grown. especially when I was young. Eating quality is frequently said to be very good. My fifty years of breeding has produced better ones, though. Later post on that issue, Jeff.


Plants are medium in size, erect to spreading. Stems are thick to medium and are prominently angled. Nodes are slightly swollen and green; the internodes have a slight reddish-purple pigmentation. Wings are green, straight or occasionally slightly waved and are frequently double at the base of stems. Leaves have four pairs of primary leaflets which are medium in size and ovate. Flower color is lilac with white tips. Anthers are orange yellow and pollen is medium in abundance but of poor quality.
Tubers are round, medium to large in size with deep stem and apical ends. Lateral eye depth ranges from shallow to deep. Skin color is creamy white and texture is smooth. Flesh color is white.

The major advantage of Irish Cobbler is its earliness. Another perceived advantage is the culinary quality. This variety is resistant to mild mosaic and immune from wart. The deep eyes and irregular shape of tubers have been the primary disadvantages.




A round white potato, the Cobbler is slightly difficult to grow (it bruises easily) and with deep eyes that make it hard to peel, the Cobbler was popular with farmers for years not only because of the popularity in the market, but also because it matures earlier than the other varieties. This is so important.

I remember as a boy growing up in Kansas, that we needed an alternative to Cobbler and we planted a lot of Kennebec, a high yielding fast growing variety, widely adapted. Required close planting as it produced oversized and rough tubers, and set tubers far out in the row, often times greening badly when tubers found the sides of the row. But it had excellent storage quality, with long dormancy periods. Since we did not irrigate potatoes much in the old days, the Kennebecs would be hurt by the typical dry weather that set in before the plants would mature. Hence, the Cobblers would be better because of their earliness. Too dry of soil would leave the Kennebecs flabby and soft, but the Cobblers would be firm and turgid, especially important if you wanted to put them in storage.

I remember praying for rain as a kid. One year I think I prayed too loudly or something. We had 19 inches of rain during July and any potatoes not harvested during the harvest month of July rotted!

Tom Wagner
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