HISTORY OF THE POTATO. 33 



two which stand pre-eminently conspicuous from their 

 general adoption ; unlike in their natures, both have 

 been received as extensive blessings the one by its 

 nutritive powers tends to support, the other by its nar- 

 cotic virtues to soothe and comfort the human frame 

 the potato and tobacco ; but very different was the favor 

 with which these plants were viewed : the one, long re 

 jected, by the slow operation of time, and perhaps of 

 necessity, was at length cherished, and has become the 

 support of millions ; but nearly one hundred and twenty 

 years passed away before even a trial of its merits was 

 attempted : whereas the tobacco from Yucatan, in less 

 than seventy years after the discovery, appears to have 

 been extensively cultivated in Portugal, and is, perhaps, 

 the most generally adopted superfluous vegetable pro- 

 duct known ; for sugar and opium are not in such com- 

 mon use. Luxuries, usually, are expensive pleasures, 

 and hence confined to few : but this sedative herb, from 

 its cheapness, is accessible to almost every one, and is 

 the favorite indulgence of a large portion of mankind. 

 Food and rest are the great requirements of mortal life: 

 the potato, by its starch, satisfies the demands of hun- 

 ger ; the tobacco, by its morphin, calms the turbulence 

 of the mind : the former becomes a necessity required ; 

 the latter a gratification sought for. 



Many as the uses are to which this root is applicable 

 and it will be annually applied to more ; if we con- 

 sider it merely as an article of food, though subject to 

 occasional partial failures, yet exempted from the blights, 

 the mildews, the wire-worms, the germinatings of corn, 

 which have often filled our land with wailings and with 

 death, we will hail the individual, whoever he might 

 be, who brought it to us, as one of the greatest bene- 

 factors to the human race, and with grateful hearts thank 

 the bountiful giver of all good things for this most ex- 

 tensive blessing. 



It is a well-known fact, that we are perfectly ignorant 

 of the native sites of nearly all those gramineous plants, 

 distinguished by Linnaeus as Cerealia, whose seeds have 

 from the earliest periods of time served for the food of 

 man, such as wheat, rye, barley, rice, maize, oats : per 



