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FARMERS' REGISTER— EARLIEST ACCOUNTS OF THE POTATO. 



der the name of Tarafoiifli. He gives a plate of 

 it among his rare plants. So much lor its intro- 

 duclion on the Continent of Europe. 



in tlie year 1584, Sir VYaUer Raleigh, under the 

 authority of a patent granted by Queen Ehzabeth, 

 lor discovering and pla.ntingncvv countries not pos- 

 sessed by Christians, sent out a number of colo- 

 nists to Virginia. Now, aUhough no absolute 

 prooi' can be brought forward on the subject, yet, 

 ti-om concurring circumstances, and Irom tradition, 

 it appears higlily probable that the potato now in 

 use amongst us was first brought to Ireland, cither 

 by Sir Walter liimselt; on his return Irom his voy- 

 age, or was afterwards sent to him by the Govern- 

 or of Virginia. The general opinion is, that he had 

 them planted in his own garden near Youghal, in 

 the county of Cork. He is said to have given them 

 to his gardener as a fine fruit from America, and 

 ordered them to be put down in his kitchen garden. 

 In August the plants flowered, and in September 

 they produced their apples; but these were so to- 

 tally diii'erent from what the gardener had expect- 

 ed to see, that, in a fit of ill humor, he pulled them 

 and carried them to his master; asking him "were 

 these the fine American fruit." Sir Walter either re- 

 ally was, or pretended to be ignorant of the matter; 

 and, having tasted them, told the man to dig up 

 the weeds and throw them away. The gardener 

 did so, but was astonished to find about a bushel 

 of tuberous roots. Trial soon shovv'ed that this 

 was the eatable part of the plant. The only writ- 

 ten proof vve have of the introduction of the po- 

 tato by Raleigh, is found in the manuscript mi- 

 nutes of the Royal Society of London, December 

 13, 1693, when we are told the president, Sir Robert 

 Southwell, informed the fellows that his grandfa- 

 ther first cultivated potatoes in Ireland; and that he 

 got them from Sir Walter Raleigh. They were 

 cultivated a long time in Ireland before they were 

 known in England, and they were only at last in- 

 troduced there by the shipwreck of a vessel con- 

 taining some of them, on the coast of Lancashire, 

 at a jjlace called North Meols, which is still fa- 

 mous for their cultivation. Gerard, whom I have 

 already quoted, describes them distinctly from the 

 sweet potato, and calls them Virginian Potatoes. 

 He says, "I have received roots hereof from Vir- 

 o-iiiia, otherwise called Norembega, which grow 

 and prosper in my garden, as in their native coun- 

 trie. The Indians do call this plant /^o/jhs (mean- 

 ing the rootes,) bj^ which name also tlie connnon 

 potatoes are called in those Indian countries." 



We have thus seen the same plant brought 

 from South America by the Spaniards, and from 

 North America by the English. Now, it is re- 

 markable, that, at tlie conquest of 31exico, in the 

 reign of Montezuma, the potato was quite un- 

 known in that country. How is it, then, that a 

 plant belonging originally to the southern fremis- 

 phere should be found at the foot of the Allegha- 

 ny Mountains, while it was unknown iu the in- 

 termediate country, Mexico? Humboldt is the 

 person who agitates this question. He proves satis- 

 fiictorily that the potato is not indigenous in Peru, 

 nor found wild in any part of the Andes situated 

 under the tropics; no where, in fact, but in Chili, 

 from which place we may conjecture it to have 

 been propagated northwards under the government 

 of the Incas. Again, he proves tl»e improbability 

 of the potato having been brought to North 

 America l)y any of the Peruvian tribes, both from 



physical and moral causes; and, combining this 

 with the above mentioned singular fact respecting 

 Mexico, he starts a new idea, that the English 

 colonists of Virginia themselves procured the plant 

 from the Spanish settlements. "The colony," he 

 remarks, "was in existence from July 1584. Now, 

 the navigators of those times were not in the liab- 

 it of steering straight westward to reach the coast 

 of America; they were still in the practice of fol- 

 lowing the track indicated b\^ Columbus, and pro- 

 fifing by tiie trade-winds of the torrid zone. This 

 passage faciliated communication with the "West 

 India Islands, which were then the centre of Span- 

 ish commerce. It appears, then, natural enough 

 that the English themselves brought potatoes 

 from South America into Virginia. At the time 

 when they came from Virginia to England, they 

 were common both in Spain and Italy. We are 

 not then to be astonished, that a production, which 

 had passed from one continent to another, covdd in 

 America pass from the Spanish to the English 

 colonies."* 



From all these different considerations, conjoin- 

 ed with what I have ah'cady brought forward of 

 the history of the plant, I thiniv we are almost 

 warranted in conculding that Chili alone is the na- 

 tive country of the potato. 



We may now, in a cursory manner, glance at 

 its subsequent history in these countries. Tlie 

 next writer after old Gerard who mentions it is 

 Lord Racon. Speaking of ale, he observes, "If 

 ale was brewed with one-fourth part of some flit 

 root, such as the potato, to three-fourths of grain, 

 it would be more conducive to longevity than with 

 grain alone. "t The potato still appears to have 

 been only cultivated in gardens as a curious plant. 

 It Vv-as considered a great delicacy in the reign of 

 James the First. In the year 1619 Ave find it 

 mentioned as one of the articles provided for the 

 use of the queen's household. The quantity pro- 

 cured was very small, and the price two shillings 

 a-]iound.J In the following reign, and during the 

 continuance of the Commonwealth, the potato re- 

 mained equally scarce. Its cultivation, meantime, 

 spread slowly over Ireland, and still more slowly 

 in Lancashire. The first time that it was brought 

 before the public as an object of national impor- 

 tance, was at a meeting of the Royal Society held 

 in March 1663, when the letter was read from Mr. 

 Buckland, a gentleman of Somersetshire, strongly 

 recommending the culture of potatoes in all parts 

 of the kingdom as a precaution against famine. 

 This v/as referred to a committee, and upon their 

 report, the thanks of the Society were gi\en to 

 Mr. Buckland, all the members who had lands 

 were entreated to plant them, and Mr. Evelyne 

 was directed to mention the matter at the end of his 

 "Sylva," a book then publishing under the auspices 

 of "tlie Society. II These exertions of a scientific 

 body do not seem to have produced much effect, 

 and as a late writer remarks, "if we may judge by 

 the opinions wliich were published respecting the 

 plant, we must conclude, that the necessities of 

 the poor of Ireland (who have always been lefl 

 too entirely to their own resources,) did more to 

 promote the cultivation" of potatoes, than all the 



*Nueva Espana. tBacon, Nat. Hist. 



JEden on the State of the Poor. 



1 1 Birch, History of the Royal Society. 



