CHAPTER XVI 



POTATOES 



Let me be no assistant for a state, 



But keep a farm, and carters. SHAKESPEARE. 



UNDER the term potatoes are usually included two very distinct 

 crops, Irish potatoes and sweet potatoes. These are not at all 

 similar except that each is the fleshy store of food of a plant. The 

 Irish potato is a true underground stem with "eyes" or true 

 buds. It belongs to the nightshade family which also includes the 

 tomato, tobacco, Jimson weed, and other economic plants. The 

 sweet potato belongs to the morning-glory family. The part used 

 for food is a true root, having no real buds. 



WHITE OR IRISH POTATO 



This crop, commonly known as Irish potatoes, because it is 

 grown extensively in Ireland, really originated in America. It is 

 native of the valleys of Peru and was introduced from Peru to 

 Europe about 1542. It is grown in nearly all countries of the 

 world and leads all other agricultural crops of the world in tonnage. 

 The leading countries in potato growing are in this order: Ger- 

 many, European Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, United 

 States and United Kingdom. The average yields per acre in these 

 countries range from about two hundred ' bushels in Germany to 

 only ninety-two bushels in this country. 



The eight leading states in the production of potatoes are: 

 New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, Minne- 

 sota, Ohio, and Iowa. Maine leads all others in the number of 

 bushels per acre. 



Varieties. There are a number of distinct types and varieties 

 of potatoes. Many of the variety names are synonyms, being 

 given by seedsmen to old forms to attract a new attention to them. 

 The different types of potatoes grown under same conditions of 

 soil and climate are easily distinguished; but any one type may 

 vary so much under different conditions of growth as to appear as 

 a different variety in different places. Soil and climate cause 

 great variation in the form, texture and growth of the tubers. 



The chief differences among the types or varieties of potatoes 

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