100 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



tary place shall be glad, and the desert 

 shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."* 

 In Italy it has already become so familiar, 

 that we may soon hope to see it used by their 

 vagrants, who now often subsist on the watery 

 gourd. The Horticultural Society of this 

 country has already extended its benefits to 

 the borders of the Black Sea, by sending 

 out the best varieties of the potatoe to the 

 Crimea and other parts. 



It has now become a question of great im- 

 portance, and one which deserves the most 

 serious investigation, whether this root, now 

 justly styled the bread-fruit of Great Britain 

 and Ireland, degenerates, or loses any of its 

 good qualities, by the long-continued prac- 

 tice of raising it from eyes ? The princi- 

 pal points are, to ascertain if they are less 

 farinaceous than formerly, or deficient in 

 flavour. We have observed that potatoes 

 which have been obtained from the berries 

 only a few years, have generally a more agree- 

 able taste than older varieties : it must there- 

 fore be desirable, that the seed should be 

 continually sown, from which alone new 

 varieties may be expected. The process is 



* Isaiah, c. xxxv. v. I. 



