264 THE POTATO 



fine, smooth skin might not be superior in quahty 

 to one of rough and uneven character. It is un- 

 usual for the purchaser to be fastidious in regard 

 to flavor and quahty, and yet these are elements 

 worthy of more attention than color, size, or form. 

 Very large potatoes have a large watery core, or, 

 as is said in the kitchen, a bone, in the centre. 

 They are apt to be coarse grained and lacking in 

 flavor. 



*' Excepting in cases of necessity no one Uves 

 upon potatoes alone. They are under ordinary 

 circumstances eaten with meat, fish, eggs, butter, 

 milk, and cheese, and digestive experiments prove 

 that in these combinations their nutritives are 

 very completely utilized in the body. Their 

 abundant mineral matters are valuable aids in the 

 process of digestion, and are supposed tx) be a pre- 

 ventive of scurvy. So well recognized was this 

 property during the Civil War, and before the 

 nutritive value of foods had been scientifically 

 learned, that potatoes sliced and pickled in salt 

 vinegar were sent by orders of physicians to supple- 

 ment the soldier's diet of white flour, fat meat, 

 beef, and beans. The same conditions were noted 

 in the early Klondike days. Potatoes were re- 

 garded as necessities and were used regardless of 

 their excessively high cost. 



"The early Spanish explorers found the Peru- 

 vian natives stocking their boats for long voyages 

 with a plentiful supply of this wholesome tuber. 



"Potatoes are easy to cook, not requiring the 

 expensive process in labor and fuel that bread 

 making does. They may be prepared in such a 

 variety of ways that they make many agreeable 

 changes in the food supply during the winter 

 months. They are easily grown, yield abundantly. 



