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Here he explained how he developed Sunshine, stating that using the laws of heredity, the plant breeder could meet the needs of the gardener. Contrasting with the historical knowledge of Oscar H. Will and George F. Will, Yeager seemed to believe that plant breeding had only recently emerged from a non-scientific “hit and miss proposition” with modern scientific knowledge. Yeager justified the market value of Sunshine by stating that it sold from twenty-five to sixty cents per dozen in Fargo stores, while Golden Bantam, appearing much later, sold for fifteen cents a dozen. Earliness pays.
Yeager continued this pattern of explaining breeding to readers of AES bulletins in 1932 with a bulletin about Buttercup squash. Considering his praise of the scientific method, it is a bit surprising to find him saying that the buttercup foundation probably resulted from an accidental cross of Quality and Essex Hybrid types of Hubbard. He wanted to find a good winter squash that would provide the nutrition of sweet potato which will not grow in ND. After five years of breeding, selection, and trials, he got the Buttercup type. He followed up on his research with chemistry trials and baking trials. Chemistry tested for dry matter, crude protein, reducing sugar, total sugar, and sucrose. These are the chemical components related to cooking qualities. The chemical analysis, the baking trials and the selection by maturity characteristics were the factors in the final selection of Buttercup seed. Then Yeager compared Buttercup to Hubbard squash he purchased in the grocery store. The results are summarized in the following chart.
Characteristics Hubbard Buttercup Per cent edible 68.78% 79.46% Per cent waste 31.22% 20.54% Per cent seed waste 7.21% 7.32% Per cent skin waste 13.22% 24.01% Per cent steam loss 9.16% 17.71%