THE POTATO — S AFFORD 527 



fies the potatoes refoimnen(l(Ml as Irish potatoes, dechirin/:!^ that 

 •" these roots, although they came at first from the Indies, yet 

 prosper well in Ireland, where there are whole fields of them, from 

 whence they have been brouo-ht into Wales and the north parts of 

 England, where they likewise prosper and increase exceedingly." 



After recommending methods for their cultivation, Forster gives 

 directions for making jjotato bread, potato biscuits, potato pudding, 

 potato custards, and potato cheese cakes. He declares that in good 

 ground there will be a yield of 3 or 4 heaped bushels per rod, for 

 which no one will grudge a shilling per bushel. Treating the 

 propagation of potatoes as a political measure, he earnestly recom- 

 mends the King, Charles II, to order potatoes to be imported from 

 Ireland; that exevy man in every parish shall grow an acre or two; 

 and suggests that out of every £30 worth grown in a parish, £5 

 shall be paid as tribute to the King. 



Notwithstanding the publication of this earnest appeal and its 

 indorsement by the Royal Society, the introduction of the jjotato 

 as a field crop was extremely slow. Before 1699 potatoes had been 

 introduced into Lancashire, where they became very common. It 

 was from Lancashire and Ireland that they were carried to the 

 British West Indies in the early part of the eighteenth century 

 and were propagated in the mountains of Jamaica under the name 

 Irish potatoes, and from Lancashire also they began to spread over 

 England. They were mentioned slightingly in publications early in 

 the eighteenth century. Loudon and Wise, in the seventh edition 

 of their " Compleat Gardener " published in 1719 did not even 

 mention the potato, and as late as 1770 it was not known generally 

 in the southwestern counties. 



In Scotland potatoes were first cultivated as a field crop in 1739, 

 but were not known in the Highlands until 1743. Although their 

 culture by the cottagers was successful they did not meet with favor 

 among the higher classes, while zealous Presbyterians looked at 

 them askance, declaring that potatoes are not mentioned in the Bible. 

 It was not until they were urged by hunger that the Scotch 

 seriously took up the cultivation of the potato and became convinced 

 of its excellent qualities.^^ 



THE POTATO IN J^RUSSIA AND FKANCE 



Everyone knows the story of the introduction of potato culture 

 into Prussia, which Frederick the Great and his eccentric father 

 were so active in accomplishing. It has recently been told anew in 

 a paper read before the second Potato Congress held at Breslau in 



^ For much of the foregoing iufonuutioii relating to the iutroduction of the potato 

 into Irelaud and Great Britain I am. indebted to a monograph entitled " The Potato : Its 

 Culture, Uses, and History," by George W. Johnson. London, 1847. 



