528 ANNUAL. REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1925 



October, 1923, by E. Duczek.-^ The important part vvliich the 

 potato has assumed in the economy of the German people is indi* 

 catcd in this article by the preliminary prayer : " Unser taeglich 

 Brot, gib uns Heute!" — and the reverence felt for the beneficent 

 autocrat is expressed at the end in a beautiful tribute to "• Fridericus 

 Immortalis," In preparing his paper, Duczek had access to docu- 

 ments in the archives at Breslau, many of them faded and yellow 

 with age, in which potatoes figure under the names " Kartoffeln," 

 " Tartofi'eln," and the quaint hybrid combination " Erdtoffeln." 

 Like all of his predecessors in potato literature, he begins Avith the 

 Drake, Hawkins and Heriot myths and the story of the disgruntled 

 gardener — Avhether Raleigh's or Drake's, he does not specify. 



He then goes on to tell the story of the introduction of the potato 

 into his native province, pointing out that it was first cultivated at 

 Breslau in the garden of Dr. Laurentius Scholtz. This celebrated 

 garden, already referred to as the source of the potatoes used by 

 Bauhin for his illustrations, was reproduced as f aithfull}^ as f)ossible 

 in honor of the Potato Culture Exj)osition of 1913 at Breslau. The 

 first active measures taken for the introduction of the potato into 

 Prussia were those of the great Elector, Frederick William, who in 

 1G51 caused potatoes to be planted in the Berlin Lustgarten. On 

 Plate 12 the Grosser Kurf uerst is shown with his consort inspecting 

 the potatoes planted by his orders. His grandson. King Frederick 

 William I, in his effort to foster potato culture, resorted to drastic 

 steps, threatening to cut off the noses and ears of all who refused 

 to plant them. He also decreed that they should be fed to the poor 

 inmates of the Berlin Charitee and presented to the hospital a piece 

 of land to be used solely for their cultivation: but the real credit for 

 promoting potato culture in Prussia, especially in Silesia and Pom- 

 erania, must be awarded to his illustrious son, Frederick the Great. 

 In the year 1744, Frederick II caused seed potatoes to be gratui- 

 tously distributed and compelled the peasants to cultivate them. Not 

 only were edicts and ordinances issued, but the local authorities Avere 

 warned that their duties did not cease with the promulgation of the 

 decrees. They were held responsible for their practical enforce- 

 ment through the aid of the land dragoons, and were expected to 

 make official reports from time to time setting fortli the condition 

 of potato plantations in their districts and the zeal shown by the 

 peasants in cultivation of the crop. 



In the Breslau archives Herr Duczek found two original royal 

 circulars, the first dated March 24, 1756, the second April 5, 1757, 

 both of them showing remarkable familiarity on the part of Fred- 



=* See Zeilsclirift (lor Laiulwirthschaftskanimor Sehlesien. Kartoffclmiinmcr. 27 

 Jalii-gang, p. 1152. Oct. 27, 192.'?. For this publication I am indebted to Dr. Otto 

 Appol, Direlitor dcr Biologi.schen Reiclisanstalt fiir Land u. Forst-Wirtliscbaft, Berlin- 

 Dahlem ; also for the number of Mar. 15, 28 Jahrgang, 1924. 



