SOLANACE, 
* brought with them the potatoe.” Thomas Herriot, in a 
report on the country, published in De Bray’s collection of 
voyages, vol. 1. p. 17, describes a plant called Openawk, with 
‘roots as large as a walnut, and others much larger: they 
grow in damp soil, many hanging together, as if fixed on ropes ; 
they are good food either boiled or roasted." Gerarde in his 
herbal, published in 1597, gives a figure of the potatoe, under 
the name of the potatoe of Virginia, whence he says he received 
the roots; and this appellation it appears to have retained, in 
order to distinguish it from the Batatas, or sweet potatoe (the 
Batàtas edilis), till the year 1640, if not longer. ‘ The sweet 
potatoe,” Sir Joseph Banks observes, ** was used in England as 
a delicacy long before the introduction of our potatoes; it was 
imported in considerable quantities from Spain and the Canaries, 
and was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed 
vigour. The kissing comfits of Falstaff, and other confections 
of similar imaginary qualities with which our ancestors were 
duped, were principally made of these and eryngo roots." It 
appears from Gough's edition of Camden's Brittania, that the 
potatoe was first planted by Sir Walter Raleigh on his estate 
at Youghall, near Cork, and that it was “ cherished and culti- 
vated for food in that country long before its value was known 
in England, for though they were soon carried over from Ireland 
into Lancashire, Gerarde, who had this plant in his garden in 
1597, under the name of Batata Virginidna, recommends the 
roots to be eaten as a delicate dish, not as common food. 
Parkinson mentions that the tubers were sometimes roasted, and 
steeped in sack and sugar, or baked with marrow and spices, 
and even preserved and candied by the comfit makers. In 
1663 the royal society took some measures for encouraging 
the cultivation of the potatoe, with the view of preventing 
famine. Still, however, although their utility as a food was 
better known, no high character was bestowed on them ; in books 
of gardening, published towards the end of the 17th century, a 
hundred years after their introduction, they are spoken of 
rather slightingly. ‘They are much used in Ireland and Ame- 
rica as bread," says one author, “and may be propagated with 
advantage to poor people.” “I do not hear that it hath been 
yet essayed," says another author, ** whether they may not be 
propagated in great quantities for food for swine or other 
cattle." Even Evelyn seems to have entertained a prejudice 
against them. — ** Plant potatoes," he says, writing in 1699, “in 
your worst ground. Take them up in November for winter 
spending, there will enough remain for a stock, though ever so 
exactly gathered." The famous nurserymen, London and Wise, 
did not consider the potatoe as worthy of notice in their com- 
plete gardener, published in 1719 ; and Bradley, who about the 
same time wrote so extensively on horticultural subjects, speaks 
of them as inferior to skirrets and radishes. But the use of 
potatoes gradually spread, as their excellent qualities became 
better understood. It was near the middle of the 18th century, 
however, before they were generally known over the country ; 
since that time they have been most extensively cultivated. 
In 1796 it was found that in the county of Essex alone about 
1700 acres were planted with potatoes for the supply of the 
London market. This must form, no doubt, the principal sup- 
ply; but many fields of potatoes are to be seen in other coun- 
ties bordering on the capital, and many ship-loads are annually 
imported from a distance. In every county in England it is 
now more or less an object of field culture. 
The cultivation of potatoes in gardens in Scotland was very 
little understood till about the year 1740, and it was not prac- 
tised in fields till about 20 years after that period. It is stated 
in the general report of Scotland, vol. 2. p. 111, as a well 
ascertained fact, that in the year 1725-6 the few potatoe plants 
then existing in gardens about Edinburgh were left in the same 
VOL. IV, 
I. SoraNvM. 401 
spot of ground from year to year, as recommended by Evelyn ; 
a few tubers were perhaps removed for use in the autumn, and 
the parent plants were then well covered with litter to save 
them from the winter's frost. Since the middle of the 18th 
century, the cultivation of potatoes has made rapid progress in 
that country, so that they are now to be seen in almost every 
cottage garden, and fields of them on every farm. “The 
potatoe is now considered the most useful esculent that is 
cultivated, and who," Neill asks, ** could à priori have expected 
to have found the most useful among the natural family of the 
Luride (Solanacez) most of which are deleterious, and all of 
which are forbidding in their aspect." 
Use.—The tubers of the potatoe, from having no peculiarity 
of taste, and consisting chiefly of starch, approach nearer to the 
nature of flour, or farina of grain, than any vegetable root pro- 
duction, and for this reason it is the most universally liked, and 
can be used longer in constant succession by the same individual 
without becoming unpalatable than any other vegetable, the 
seeds of grasses excepted. ‘So generally is it relished, and 
so nutritious is it accounted," Neill observes, ** that on many 
tables it now appears almost every day in the year. [t is 
commonly eaten plainly boiled, and in this way it is excellent. 
When potatoes have been long kept, or in the spring months, 
the best parts of each tuber are selected and mashed before 
going to table. Potatoes are also baked, roasted, and fried. 
With the flour of potatoes puddings are made nearly equal in 
flavour to those of millet. With a moderate proportion of 
wheat flour bread of excellent quality may be formed of it, and 
potatoe starch, independently of its use in the laundry, is consi- 
dered an equally delicate food as sago or arrow-root." 
Varieties.— These are very numerous, not only from the 
facility of procuring new sorts by raising from seed, but because 
any variety cultivated for a few years in the same soil and 
situation, as in the same garden or farm, acquires a peculiarity 
of character or habit which distinguishes it from the same variety 
in a different soil and situation. "The varieties being so nu- 
merous, we shall only mention those g-nerally. enltivated. They 
may be distinguished in regard to precocity, lateness, form, size, 
colour, and quality. The earliest varieties are, 1. Hog's early 
frame, a smal] watery potatoe, fit only for very early forcing. 
2. Royal dwarf, a mealy potatoe, much grown at Perth. 3. 
Early Manchester, waxy and red. 4. Common early frame, 
waxy. 5. Foxe's yellow seedling, similar to the last, but rather 
larger, waxy. 6. American early, much esteemed at Edinburgh. 
7. Early dwarf, waxy. 8. Early ash-leaved, dry. 9. Early 
champion, large. 10. M‘Cree’s early, dry. None of the 
above sorts, when true, produce blossoms ; they are roundish in 
form, small sized, white, and not of the best quality. 
The latest sorts are, 1. The round purple, 2. The oblong 
purple, 3. The speckled purple or tartan, commonly grown in 
mossy soils in Scotland, 4. The American red, grown to a great 
extent in Scotland. 
The form of potatoes is either round, oblong, or kidney 
shaped; of the round the most esteemed are, 1. The cham- 
pion, late and early varieties. 2. The oxnoble, very large, 
and of a peculiar flavour, not generally esteemed. 3. The 
round-red, middle-sized, smooth. 4. The round-rough red, 
or Lancashire. 5. The small American. 6. The leathercoat, 
with a rough, brownish coat. Of the oblong the most es- 
teemed are, 1. The red-nosed oval, often confounded with 
the red kidney. 2. The oblong-red, variegated with white. 
3. The oblong white. 4. The American red, long and 
not thick. 5. The Irish red, or pink, oblong and entirely rea, 
with hollow eyes. 6. The bright red, blood-red, or apple 
potatoe, ovate, with small full eyes, much grown in Cheshire 
and Lancashire. The kidney-shaped sorts are as follow, 1, 
3 F 
