THE POTATO 517 



In Spain and the East and West Indies they are 

 not much cultivated, owing to the heat of the 

 cHmate; but in all the temperate parts of North 

 America, Australasia, and South America they 

 are grown by the colonists. In China they are 

 cultivated, but not extensively, owing to the slow 

 progress which everything new makes in that 

 country. Indeed, no root hitherto discovered is 

 so well adapted for universal use as the tubers of 

 the potatoe; for, having no pecuUarity of taste, and 

 consisting cniefly of starch, their farina is nearly 

 the same as that of grain. Hence, with the flower 

 of potatoes, puddings and such preparations as 

 do not call the gluten of wheat flower into action, 

 may be made equal to those of millet or rice, and 

 excellent bread with a moderate proportion of 

 good wheat flower. Potatoe starch, independently 

 of its use in the laundry and as a hair powder, is 

 considered an equally delicate food as sago or 

 arrow-root. As starch and sugar are so nearly the 

 same that the former is easily converted into the 

 latter, the potatoe yields a spirit equal to that 

 of malt by distillation and a wine or beer by the 

 fermentative process.' 



'* Monsieur Henri L. de Vilmorin, in his lecture on 

 the best kinds of potato, read before the Agricul- 

 tural Society of Paris on January 30, 1888, men- 

 tions that toward the end of the sixteenth century, 

 the potato was introduced directly into England, 

 where it rapidly obtained a position among the 

 common vegetables of the garden. On the con- 

 tinent, however, its progress was attended with 

 greater difficulty. The prejudices which existed 

 against its general use were, however, combated 

 with energy by certain men devoted to the public 

 welfare, such as Duhamel du Monceau, Inspec- 



