CHAPTER X 



THE POTATO BOOM 



Sometimes an industry, after centuries of smooth 

 sailing, will burst forth volcanically in a night and 

 amaze every one. There was the tulip craze in 

 Holland, when fabulous sums were made; but 

 this was not a mystery, tulips being the pets of 

 wealthy men. Potatoes, on the other hand, are 

 plebeian things, articles of the kitchen, the most 

 ordinary vegetable in domestic use; and how 

 could a hundred pounds change hands for a single 

 tuber? This was the question asked by one cityling 

 of another in 1904, and no one answered the ques- 

 tion intelligibly. 



New varieties of potatoes are obtained by cross- 

 fertilization, and when a promising variety ap- 

 pears it soon spreads across the country. Fashions 

 change in vegetables, as in dresses, and different 

 nations have different tastes. In England a large 

 white floury potato is demanded; in Germany it 

 must be hard and waxy; in some countries it must 

 be sweet; and so on. A new variety runs a certain 

 course when established and found to suit both 



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