Notes and Glcani}i!^s. 



j^:) 



Potatoes. — The potato {Solanitni titbcrosiiin) ranks fourth among the edible 

 vegetable productions of our country ; wheat, corn, and oats, only, taking pre- • 

 cedence in money value. Among the esculent roots, it stands at the head. By 

 the census of i860, the quantity raised in the United States was 110,571,201 

 bushels. Nearly nine-tenths of this quantity were grown in the free States. As 

 the crop has greatly increased since the last census, we may safely estimate the 

 amount now required for the wants of the country at 1 50,000,000 bushels. Most 

 of this large amount is needed for table-use ; as the price has ranged so high of 

 late years, that the potato cannot profitably be converted into starch as Ibrmerly, 

 nor used for fattening stock. As an article of food, it is the most acceptable of 

 roots ; and bread only can claim a more universal use. Like bread, it is farina- 

 ceous, tree from marked taste, and is thus adapted to all palates, and suitable to 

 be eaten with most other kinds of food. Its nutritious element is mainly starch ; 

 so that it is fitted to be an accompaniment of meat, rather than a substitute for 

 it. The potato is a luxury to the rich, and a necessity to the poor. No table is 

 complete without it, whether a king or a peasant is to be the guest. How our 

 fathers lived without it is a mystery. An article of such value, and so univer- 

 sally used, demands the careful consideration of the horticulturist. 



Its History. — The potato was first brought from South America to Spain 

 about the middle of the sixteenth century, and was cultivated under the name 

 of Papas. Sir Walter Raleigh first brought the root to England in 1586, and 

 planted it on his estate near Cork. A century elapsed before the cultivation 

 became general in England. It was at first raised only in botanic gardens as a 

 curious exotic. In 1663, the Royal Society took some measures to encourage 

 the growth of potatoes as an article of food, but met with indifferent success. 

 In books of gardening published near the end of the seventeenth century, they 

 are spoken of contemptuously as fit only for swine. Evelyn, writing in 1699, 

 more than a century after their introduction into England, says, " Plant potatoes 

 in your worst ground." "The Complete Gardener," published in 1719, makes 

 no mention of potatoes. It was near the middle of the eighteenth century be- 

 fore their merits began to be generally appreciated. The county of Essex took 

 the lead in their cultivation ; and, in 1796, seventeen hundred acres in that county 

 were planted with potatoes for the supply of the London market. This was 

 considered, at the time, an immense tract to 'be devoted to this crop. During the 

 present century, the cultivation of potatoes has extended with wonderful rapid- 

 ity ; but the demand has fully kept pace with the supply, and prices have steadily 

 enhanced. We know no crop that pays better for the labor bestowed upon it, 

 and none that more richly merits careful investigation. 



We propose to discuss briefly, — 



1st, The climate and soil best adapted to the potato. 



2d, The best varieties. 



3d, The different modes of cultivation. 



4th, The potato-disease. 



5th, The production of new varieties. 



The potato is a native of South America, having its origin in the tropical 

 table-lands of the Andes ; and will doubtless flourish the best where the climate 



