HISTORY OF THE POTATO. 91 



It was this to which allusion is made in Shakspeare " Let the sky- 

 rain potatoes." 



In " Gerard's Herbal," published in 1591, is a recommendation 

 to eat the sweet potato as common food, but the roots of the 

 Virginia potato to be eaten as a delicate dish. 



Sir Joseph Banks says : " The sweet potato was used in 

 England as a delicacy long before the introduction of our potato ; 

 it was imported from Spain and the Canaries, and was supposed to 

 possess the power of restoring decayed vigor." 



The accounts of the introduction of the potato into Europe, are 

 conflicting. . The first published account on record, is said to be 

 in La Gronica del Peru, printed in Seville in 1553, in which it is 

 described and illustrated by an engraving. 



Gerard was the first author who gave it the name of solanum 

 tuberosum, which Linngeus and his followers have adopted. He 

 received seedlings of the potato about 1590. 



Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have carried it to Ireland in 1610. 

 The London Encyclopedia says they were first introduced into 

 Ireland in 1565, and thence into England by a vessel wrecked on 

 the western coast, at North Meols, a place still famous for their 

 production. It was forty years after their introduction, however, 

 before they were cultivated about London, and even then, were 

 grown in the gardens as a curious exotic. About 1684, they were 

 first planted out in the fields, in small patches, as rarities. 



In 1728, the potato was carried to Scotland, but the people 

 opposed the introduction of this new vegetable, because its name 

 was not mentioned in the Bible. 



The priests in the Ionian isles, alleged that the potato was one 

 of the forbidden fruits, the cause of man's fall, and its use was 

 irreligious. In Sweden a royal edict was published in 1164, which 

 introduced its culture. 



M. Noel says : " This vegetable was viewed by the people of 

 France with extreme disfavor." In vain did Louis XVI. and his 

 court wear its flowers in the button-holes of their coats to enlist 

 popular favor. At last, Parmentier the chemist, hit upon the 

 following ingenious plan. He planted a field near Paris, put up 

 notices around the field that all persons who stole any of the 

 potatoes, would be prosecuted with the utmost rigor of the law ; 

 within a fortnight, thereafter, every potato had been stolen and eaten I 



The potato was doubtless introduced into Spain in the early 

 part of the 16th century, from Quito. It was imported into Italy 



