259 



Art. V. On the native Country of the Wild Potato, 

 with an Account of its Culture in the Garden of the 

 Horticultural Society; and Observations on the Im- 

 portance of obtaining improved Varieties of the cul- 

 tivated Plant*. By Joseph Sabine, Esq., F.R.S., 8fc. 



The possession of the plants of the Native Wild Potato has 

 been long a desideratum, and from the great importance and 

 extensive use of the cultivated root, the subject of course became 

 an object of attention to the Horticultural Society. In my com- 

 munications with the Society's correspondents on the other side 

 of the Atlantic, this was pointed out as one of the most interest- 

 ing objects to which their attention could be directed ; and it is 

 with no small satisfaction that I am able to state that our in- 

 quiries have been successful. 



Great doubts have existed as to what parts of the new world 

 the natural habitat of the Solanum tuberosum or Potato should 

 be assigned; and the question is even now a matter of discus- 

 sion among Botanists of the greatest eminence. The vegetable, 

 in its cultivated state, was first known in this country as the Po- 

 tato of Virginia ; I conceive, however, there can be little doubt 

 that the plants which Sir Walter Raleigh found in that colony, 

 and transferred to Ireland, had been previously introduced there 

 from some of the Spanish territories, in the more southern parts 

 of that quarter of the globe ; for had the potato been a native 

 of any district, now forming part of the United States, it would 

 before this time have been found and recognised by the botanical 

 collectors who have traversed and examined those countries. 



From the Baron de Humboldt's observations on the potato 

 in Mexico t, it seems certain that it is not wild in the south- 

 western part of North America ; nor is it known otherwise than 

 as a garden plant in any of the West India islands. Its exist- 

 ence, therefore, remains to be fixed in South America, and it 

 seems now satisfactorily proved, that it is to be found both in 

 elevated places in the tropical regions, and in the more tem- 



• From the Horticultural Transactions. 



♦ Folitieal E$my on the Kingdom of New Spain. Black's Edition. Vol, 

 II. page 48-1. 



