210 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



in his "Herbal," published in 1G33, says: "I have received 

 roots hereof from Virginia, (otherwise called Norcmbega,) which 

 grow and prosper in my garden as in their own native country."^ 

 And by the drawing he distinguishes it from the sweet potato. 

 Mattheolus, also, in his Commentary, speaks of it as having 

 been first brought from Virginia to England ; and adds that the 

 Spaniards called it Pappas.f Something to the same purport 

 is found in the "Universal History of Plants," published in 

 165 1.;]: And a century earlier, Cicero says it was cultivated in 

 Italy. After all, we cannot help thinking that the potato was 

 probably brought to England from Spain or Italy. To these 

 countries it has been introduced from the Spanish settlements 

 in Chili, and had been cultivated there long before it was known 

 in England. The commercial enterprise of Southern Europe, 

 and the frequent intercourse of that part of the continent with 

 England, would easily account for its appearance in the latter 

 country. 



The discoverers found tobacco, Indian corn and potatoes, 

 growing at the places they visited. The only one of the three 

 which impairs the value and shortens the duration of life, be- 

 came the earliest favorite ; wdiile the potato, which has since 

 furnished food to millions, was long neglected. Nearly fifty 

 years after its introduction, the Royal Society began to notice 

 it with a view to encourage its growth. Not that it had found 

 its way to their tables unless as a luxury, steeped in wine or 

 preserved in sugar, as the sweet potato was long before. Their 

 thought was, that by adding another to the edible vegetables 

 then in use, they might diminish the danger of famine, an evil of 

 more frequent occurrence than now. The Royal Society con- 

 sidered it a desirable last resort, little anticipating that it 

 would become a staple agricultural production. It is not men- 

 tioned in a review of the state of agriculture in the kingdom 

 for 1G85. Its culture was encouraged in Ireland, on the ground 

 that it furnished cheap food to poor people, was easily raised, 

 adapted itself to the climate, and was not fastidious as to soil.§ 



* Herbal, or Gen. Hist, of Plants, p. 927. 



tMat. Comm. p. 758. X Vol. iii. p. 622. 



§ The Gardener's Kalendar for 1708 says : "The root is very near the nature of 

 the Jerusalem Artichoke, although not so good and wholesome ; but it may prove 

 good for swine. 



