SOLANACE^E. I. SOLANUM. 



401 



" brought with them the potatoe." Thomas Herriot, in a 

 report on the country, published in De Bray's collection of 

 voyages, vol. 1. p. 17, describes a plant called Openamk, with 

 ' roots as large as a walnut, and others much larger : they 

 grow in damp soil, many hanging together, as if fixed on ropes ; 

 they are good food either boiled or roasted." Gerarde in his 

 herbal, published in 1597, gives a figure of the potatoe, under 

 the name of the potatoe of \ 7 irginia, whence he says he received 

 the roots ; and this appellation it appears to have retained, in 

 order to distinguish it from the Batatas, or sweet potatoe (the 

 Batatas edulis), till the year 1640, if not longer. " The sweet 

 potatoe," Sir Joseph Banks observes, " was used in England as 

 a delicacy long before the introduction of our potatoes ; it was 

 imported in considerable quantities from Spain and the Canaries, 

 and was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed 

 vigour. The kissing comfits of FalstafF, and other confections 

 of similar imaginary qualities with which our ancestors were 

 duped, were principally made of these and eryngo roots." It 

 appears from Cough's edition of Camden's Brittania, that the 

 potatoe was first planted by Sir Walter Raleigh on his estate 

 at Youghall, near Cork, and that it was " cherished and culti- 

 vated for food in that country long before its value was known 

 in England, for though they were soon carried over from Ireland 

 into Lancashire, Gerarde, who had this plant in his garden in 

 1597, under the name of Batata f'irgmidna, recommends the 

 roots to be eaten as a delicate dish, not as common food. 

 Parkinson mentions that the tubers were sometimes roasted, and 

 steeped in sack and sugar, or baked with marrow and spices, 

 and even preserved and candied by the comfit makers. In 

 1 663 the royal society took some measures for encouraging 

 the cultivation of the potatoe, with the view of preventing 

 famine. Still, however, although their utility as a food was 

 better known, no high character was bestowed on them ; in books 

 of gardening, published towards the end of the 17th century, a 

 hundred years after their introduction, they are spoken of 

 rather slightingly. " They are much used in Ireland and Ame- 

 rica as bread," says one author, "and may be propagated with 

 advantage to poor people." " I do not hear that it hath been 

 yet essayed," says another author, " whether they may not be 

 propagated in great quantities for food for swine or other 

 cattle." Even Evelyn seems to have entertained a prejudice 

 against them. " Plant potatoes," he says, writing in 1699, "in 

 your worst ground. Take them up in November for winter 

 spending, there will enough remain for a stock, though ever so 

 exactly gathered." The famous nurserymen, London and Wise, 

 did not consider the potatoe as worthy of notice in their com- 

 plete gardener, published in 1719 ; and Bradley, who about the 

 same time wrote so extensively on horticultural subjects, speaks 

 of them as inferior to skirrets and radishes. But the use of 

 potatoes gradually spread, as their excellent qualities became 

 better understood. It was near the middle of the 18th century, 

 however, before they were generally known over the country ; 

 since that time they have been most extensively cultivated. 

 In 1796 it was found that in the county of Essex alone about 

 1700 acres were planted with potatoes for the supply of the 

 London market. This must form, no doubt, the principal sup- 

 ply ; but many fields of potatoes are to be seen in other coun- 

 ties bordering on the capital, and many ship-loads are annually 

 imported from a distance. In every county in England it is 

 now more or less an object of field culture. 



The cultivation of potatoes in gardens in Scotland was very 

 little understood till about the year 1740, and it was not prac- 

 tised in fields till about 20 years after that period. It is stated 

 in the general report of Scotland, vol. 2. p. Ill, as a well 

 ascertained fact, that in the year 1725-6 the few potatoe plants 

 then existing in gardens about Edinburgh were left in the same 



VOL. IV. 



spot of ground from year to year, as recommended by Evelyn ; 

 a few tubers were perhaps removed for use in the autumn, and 

 the parent plants were then well covered with litter to save 

 them from the winter's frost. Since the middle of the 18th 

 century, the cultivation of potatoes has made rapid progress in 

 that country, so that they are now to be seen in almost every 

 cottage garden, and fields of them on every farm. " The 

 potatoe is now considered the most useful esculent that is 

 cultivated, and who," Neill asks, " could a priori have expected 

 to have found the most useful among the natural family of the 

 Lur\d<K (Solanaceae) most of which are deleterious, and all of 

 which are forbidding in their aspect." 



Use. The tubers of the potatoe, from having no peculiarity 

 of taste, and consisting chiefly of starch, approach nearer to the 

 nature of flour, or farina of grain, than any vegetable root pro- 

 duction, and for this reason it is the most universally liked, and 

 can be used longer in constant succession by the same individual 

 without becoming unpalatable than any other vegetable, the 

 seeds of grasses excepted. " So generally is it relished, and 

 so nutritious is it accounted," Neill observes, " that on many 

 tables it now appears almost every day in the year. It is 

 commonly eaten plainly boiled, and in this way it is excellent. 

 When potatoes have been long kept, or in the spring months, 

 the best parts of each tuber are selected and mashed before 

 going to table. Potatoes are also baked, roasted, and fried. 

 With the flour of potatoes puddings are made nearly equal in 

 flavour to those of millet. With a moderate proportion of 

 wheat flour bread of excellent quality may be formed of it, and 

 potatoe starch, independently of its use in the laundry, is consi- 

 dered an equally delicate food as sago or arrow-root." 



Varieties. These are very numerous, not only from the 

 facility of procuring new sorts by raising from seed, but because 

 any variety cultivated for a few years in the same soil and 

 situation, as in the same garden or farm, acquires a peculiarity 

 of character or habit which distinguishes it from the same variety 

 in a different soil and situation. The varieties being so nu- 

 merous, we shall only mention those generally cultivated. They 

 may be distinguished in regard to precocity, lateness, form, size, 

 colour, and quality. The earliest varieties are, 1. Hog's early 

 frame, a small watery potatoe, fit only for very early forcing. 



2. Royal dwarf, a mealy potatoe, much grown at Perth. 3. 

 Early Manchester, waxy and red. 4. Common early frame, 

 waxy. 5. Foxe's yellow seedling, similar to the last, but rather 

 larger, waxy. 6. American early, much esteemed at Edinburgh. 

 7. Early dwarf, waxy. 8. Early ash-leaved, dry. 9. Early 

 champion, large. 10. M'Cree's early, dry. None of the 

 above sorts, when true, produce blossoms ; they are roundish in 

 form, small sized, white, and not of the best quality. 



The latest sorts are, 1. The round purple, 2. The oblong 

 purple, 3. The speckled purple or tartan, commonly grown in 

 mossy soils in Scotland, 4. The American red, grown to a great 

 extent in Scotland. 



The form of potatoes is either round, oblong, or kidney 

 shaped ; of the round the most esteemed are, 1 . The cham- 

 pion, late and early varieties. 2. The oxnoble, very large, 

 and of a peculiar flavour, not generally esteemed. 3. The 

 round-red, middle-sized, smooth. 4. The round-rough red, 

 or Lancashire. 5. The small American. 6. The leathercoat, 

 with a rough, brownish coat. Of the oblong the most es- 

 teemed are, 1. The red-nosed oval, often confounded with 

 the red kidney. 2. The oblong-red, variegated with white. 



3. The oblong white. 4. The American red, long and 

 not thick. 5. The Irish red, or pink, oblong and entirely red, 

 with hollow eyes. 6. The bright red, blood-red, or apple 

 potatoe, ovate, with small full eyes, much grown in Cheshire 

 and Lancashire. The kidney-shaped sorts are as follow. 1, 



3 F 



