NOTES FOR THE TEACHER. 



"We trust it will be your pleasure to plant some potato tubers in 

 yonr schoolroom and also to make the iodine test for starch as has 

 been suggested on pages 188, 189. Or, better still, have your pupils 

 plant them under your supervision. Sucli experiments will give 

 them a forceful illustration of two principles that pertain to all life: 

 Provision for the future (or for welfare of offspring), and excellent 

 methods for attaining such plans. Tlie motive of the potato, if we 

 may so speak, is to make the most of its opportunity for attaining the 

 greatest perfection and also for perpetuating its kind. The manu- 

 facture of starch, and storing a quantity for future use, are impor- 

 tant factors towards these ends. 



That a plant should prepare for its own welfare and also make 

 provision for the offspring seem to place it almost on the plane of 

 having intelligence. That the industrious honey bee shows such 

 foresight is commonly known and the example has long l)een held 

 \\\) for man's imitation. Why should not the potato be held in 

 similar admiration ? If plants were not provident for their future, 

 the world would have an empty cupboard and the full dimier pail 

 would be a meaningless expression. 



We wish to say a word about the philosophy of cooking the 

 potato. At iirst sight the dust-like specks of starch may seem too 

 insignificant for much consideration, but you can impress on your 

 pupils that the grains they see are on the surface only, and that 

 a'reat numbers of other starch <>:rains lie next underneath, and that 

 the aggregate in a good sized potato is very great. If they ask why 

 a raw potato is not as good food as a raw aj^ple, you can explain that 

 each of the starch grains in the potato is covered with a him which 

 offers a strong resistance to the digestive organs of man, but not 

 necessarily of cattle or horses. By heat the starch grains are popped 

 open as heat pops open a kernel of corn. They \n\\\ easily under- 

 stand how a kernel of popped corn is more digestible than a raw 



293 



