1883. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



123 



'Parana de las Papas.' " But it seems that though 

 these distinguished naturalists did not succeed in 

 finding the wild potato growing in these regions, 

 others were more fortunate. Meyer states that " if 

 the potato had migrated from Chili to Peru it would 

 probably have retained its Chilian name ; but this 

 conjecture is no longer necessary, for it grows wild 

 in both countries. I myself have found it in two 

 different places in the Cordilleras of these coun- 

 tries." 



Hooker* states that Don Jose Pavon, in a letter 

 to M. Lambert, says that Solanum tuberosum 

 grows wild in the environs of Lima and four- 

 teen miles from Lima, on the coast, and I 

 myself have found it in the kingdom of Chili. 

 And M. Lambert adds, " I have lately received 

 from M. Pavon very fine wild specimens of Sola- 

 num tuberosum collected by himself in Peru. In 

 Chili it is generally found in steep, rocky places, 

 where it could never have been cultivated, and 

 where its introduction must have been almost im- 

 possible. It is very common about Valparaiso, 

 and Cruikshank has noticed it along the coast for 

 fifteen leagues to the northward of that port ; how 

 much further it may extend north or south, he 

 knows not." Mr. Caldcleugh, of Rio Janeiro, in 

 sending some tubers of the wild potato to the sec- 

 retary of the London Horticultural Society, writes 

 as follows : " It is with no small degree of pleasure 

 that I am enabled to send you some specimens of 

 Solanum tuberosum, or native wild potato of South 

 America. It is found growing in considerable 

 quantities in ravines in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood of Valparaiso, on the western side of South 

 America, in latitude 34 '^0 south. The leaves and 

 flowers of the plant are similar in every respect to 

 those cultivated in England and elsewhere. It 

 begins to flower in October, and is not very pro- 

 lific. The roots are small, and of a bitterish taste, 

 some with red and others with yellowish skins. I 

 am inclined to think that this plant grows on a 

 latge extent of the coast, for in the south of Chili 

 it is found, and is called by the natives maglia, but 

 I cannot discover that it is employed for any pur- 

 pose." 



The mountain of Chancay is mentioned by 

 Jenin and Pavon as a locality where the potato is 

 to be found in a wild state. 



From the foregoing it appears the native habitat 

 of the potato is found in the valleys of the Andes 

 mountains and the table lands bordering on the 

 Pacific, several species extending as far north as 



•Botanical Miscellany. 



New Mexico. But the potato was found by the 

 European explorers not only growing wild, but it 

 was also found in cultivation in a highly improved 

 state. It has been in cultivation by the old Aztec 

 race from time immemorial. At Cuzco in Peru, 

 Quito in Equador, and perhaps as far north as 

 Mexico, it had formed an important article of diet 

 to the aboriginal inhabitants of America long be- 

 fore the discovery of that country by Europeans. 

 The varieties in cultivation were far superior to 

 the wild varieties, these last being quite bitter and 

 unpalatable, while the cultivated varieties pos- 

 sessed considerable excellence. 



At just what period the potato was first carried 

 to Europe we are not informed. Spanish adven- 

 turers doubtless carried it to that country at quite 

 an early day. Certain it is that it was cultivated 

 in Spain as early as 1550. From there it soon 

 made its way to Italy, Burgundy and the Nether- 

 lands. It was, however, early introduced into 

 Italy, directly from South America. The early 

 Spanish and Portuguese adventurers being zealous 

 papists it is probable this new esculent was very 

 early sent to Rome as a present to the Pope. 



There seems to be a conflict of opinion in re- 

 gard to the introduction of the potato into Ireland. 

 One account credits its introduction into that coun- 

 try to a Capt. Hawkins, a slave trader, who, it is 

 said, carried it from Spain in 1565. But Sir Robt. 

 Southwell stated before the Fellows of the Royal 

 Society that his grandfather had introduced it 

 directly from Raleigh. Again, the Irish have a 

 tradition that it was brought to their country from 

 France by a Catholic priest. The potato was in- 

 troduced into England by Sir Francis Drake on 

 his return from a voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 

 1565. On his way home he touched at the Vir- 

 ginia coast, and carried away the discouraged col- 

 onists from that place. Whether he obtained it on 

 the west coast of America or from the colonists in 

 Virginia we are left to conjecture. 



Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with introducing 

 the potato into England from Virginia in 1586. 

 Some authorities however place it as late as the 

 year 1623. A somewhat careful examination has 

 raised quite strong doubts in my mind whether 

 this is correct. Raleigh, it appears, did not visit 

 Virginia himself at all, but merely furnished ships 

 and provisions, and sent others out. The return 

 of Sir Francis Drake with the colonists from Vir- 

 ginia, seems to have been the only chance for the 

 introduction of the potato about that time. In 

 1 589, Raleigh disposed of his interest in the new 

 world, and from that time we have no evidence 



