308 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



toes covered with soil than with those spread out in open air in the 

 cellar, or under trees where we covered with leaves. In no event 

 should the potatoes be piled or heaped together, so long as warm 

 weather continues. If potatoes intended for the table are exposed 

 to the light for any considerable length of time they will turn 

 greenish in color and become unwholesome for food. If not spread 

 in a dark place they should be covered with leaves, straw or dirt." 

 The potato (Solanum tuberosum) is native to temperate parts 

 of Chile and northward to southern Colorado. The northern form 

 differs little from main type. It is known as var. boreale. It was 



A 



Fig. 87. New potatoes growing from an old one. 



probably first taken from the Andean region. It was in cultivation 

 by aborigines on the discovery of America. For history, see 

 DeCandolle's" Origin of Cultivated Plants;" Sturtevant, in Amer. 

 Nat., April, 1$90, pp. 315-318; Gardeners' Chronicle, Oct. 30 and 

 Dec. 4, 1886 (being a report of the potato tercentenary; also see 

 The Garden, vol. 30, pp. 530, 535). Rev. Chauncey E. Goodrich, of 

 Utica, N. Y., made an effort, in the middle of the century, to breed 

 blight-proof varieties from newly imported native stock from 

 South America. His experiments are of great historic importance. 



For a botanical account of the species allied to the potato, see 

 J. G. Baker, "A Review of the Tuber-bearing Species of So- 

 lanum," Journ. Linn. Soc. xx: 489. For a sketch of the Mexican 

 wild potato (Solanum tuberosum), see Bull. 49, Cornell Exp. Sta. 

 For an account of grafting potatoes on tomatoes, and vice versa, 

 see Bull. 61, Cornell Exp. Sta. 



