See the potato varieties dataset in the FTP fileserver: /share/datasets/europotato (see README inside for sources and some usage notes)
This dataset contains 5600+ strains and varieties, with many many features like taste, color, texture and country of origin.

csvkit - command-line pivot tables
http://csvkit.readthedocs.org/en/latest/install.html
csvcut potato-varieties.csv -c taste | sort | uniq -> this shows us all the unique values to be found in the "taste" column
more tomorrow!

The resistance of some potata species changes over time (e.g. charlottes are no more resistance to mildiou), it implies some kind of data obscolescence. 
Due to different data sources, a single specy can have many different and contradictive attributes (poor taste and excellent in the same time; also rare and high frequency rate) - some of them can be explained according to various geographical source
For some attributes there are more non-available values than attribute values, n/a proportion is huge --> big shadow area of datas, is this representative?

Spurious correlations : http://tylervigen.com/

Tom Wagner talks about True Potato Seed TPS
http://www.tom8toes.com/index.php/potatoes/why-grow-tps.html
http://tater-mater.blogspot.be/
Tom Wagner creates potatoesand tomatoes seeds  that are in the public domain. Creator of the green zebra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Zebra 
Didier: varieties of potatoes have a tendency to decline. The tube is a sort of hack. It is a provisional solution to keep the germ and its source of energy. It is an adaptation to the variation in seasons.
It is necessary to have new varietes to regenerate the production of potato
Grow your on variety adapted to your soil.

OTHER PROPOSALS:
- from position of not knowing anything (genome) to look for connection between abstract data & reality
potatogenome.net
"Spud DB" http://solanaceae.plantbiology.msu.edu/pgsc_download.shtml

potato focus-categories: 
(1) as a starting point (from which to leave & never return);
ex? creating tool that can draw the potato that we've never seen based on the data (startingpoint)
(2) a means/method to discuss other topics (analogy); and 
ex. - potatos are a variable or factor in the larger world
(3) an end unto itself.
ex,? all potatos vs 1 potato
ex, - genome sequence, yields, satellite imagery prediction, economics, nomenclatura
ex what would the heart potato look like?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/234_Solanum_tuberosum_L.jpg

http://www.cqrrelations.constantvzw.org/docs/montage-pdt.jpg

http://www.cqrrelations.constantvzw.org/docs/montage-z.jpg


http://www.cqrrelations.constantvzw.org/docs/montage.jpg

http://www.cqrrelations.constantvzw.org/docs/Potato-in-family.png