36 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Feb. 



few potato-plants in the gardens about Edinburgh were left in the 

 same spot from year to year. No attempt was made at a more ex- 

 tended culture. In 1728, however, a Scotch day-laborer, named 

 Thomas Prentice, living near Kilsyth, Stirlingshire, carefully cul- 

 tivated the potato as food, and, after supplying the wants of his 

 own family, sold the remainder of the produce to his neighbors, 

 who very willingly paid him his own price, being convinced by his 

 example that potatoes were wholesome and nutritious. Prentice 

 was frugal and industrious, and soon found himself in possession 

 of £200, no small fortune in those days. He now sank his capital 

 in an annuity at a good interest, upon which he lived independ- 

 ently in his old age, dying in the year 1792, at the advanced age 

 of eighty-six (potatoes evidently agreed with him), having been 

 sixty-four years a happy witness to the effects of the blessing which 

 he had been instrumental in conferring on his country. 



The potato appe i rs to have been taken into favor much earlier in 

 England, as appears from a report of a meeting of the Ray Society, 

 held March 18th, 1662, when a letter was read from Mr. Buck- 

 land, a Somersetshire gentleman, recommending the planting of po- 

 tatoes. This was referred to a committee, who reported favorably, 

 and Mr. Buckland received the thanks of the Society. From this 

 time the field-culture of the potato commenced, and rapidly ex- 

 tended as its excellent qualities became more known. A strange 

 objection was made by the Puritans, who denied the lawfulness of 

 eating potatoes, because the plant was not mentioned in the Bible ! 

 Whether or no, a plant so nutritious, and whose culture is adap- 

 ted to almost every soil and climate, must be regarded as amongst 

 ike choicest gifts of Providence. Our countrymen have since done 

 ample justice to this plant ; for now, wherever the Englishman 

 seeks a home, he always strives to naturalize the potato-plant, and, 

 even when surrounded by the luxuries of tropical lands, remembers 

 the simple vegetable which was so long struggling into notice in 

 his own country. 



The Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa, L.) — This plant belongs to 

 the natural order Uinbelliferas, and is closely related to the carrot, 

 celery, and parsley, which belong to the same natural order. It 

 is a native of Britain, and of different parts of Europe, and is 

 usually most plentiful on dry banks or on a chalky soil. It i s 

 difficult to say whether it is to cultivation or importation that we 

 are indebted for this root. Most likely the former, as it is unde- 

 niable that the wild plant, grown for two or three years in rich 



