318 [Assembly 



Schlechtendal — a figure of it given in the Hortus Halensis. The 

 plant in the garden of Halle came originally from the mountain- 

 ous regions of Mexico. It shows the same pointed segments and 

 the same nodosities, (knots or warts). The flower is bordering 

 on blue, and not on the red, stalks more straight, and taller. On 

 the whole, I am convinced that it is specifically the SolanumVer- 

 rucosum, and uot tuberosum. 



The Fenieres field lay covered with deep snow from the begin- 

 ning of Nov. until spring, when they were dug up and were all 

 sound, while all the common ones of the country were diseased. The 

 medium size of the Mexican tubers was about one inch in diameter. 

 Others were nearly an inch and a half in diameter by nearly two 

 inches long. They were generally, spherical, skin smooth, of a 

 clear yellow color, flesh colored about the eyes, the flesh of a 

 very marked yellow, which seems to be a special characteristic 

 of it. When boiled they have an excellent taste, no bitt'er in 

 them — a circumstance in which they differ from many wild kinds 

 of the Solanum Tuberosum. They taste like our early potatoes, 

 which are not mealy. The starch in them is 145 to 155, while 

 in our ordinary potatoes is 200 to 250. 



The celebrated botanist Clusius has given us a drawing, of an 

 excellent character, of the potato, which had been introduced 

 into Spain and Italy in 1 588. We there see, that after some years 

 culture in Europe, and, probably, after a great number of years 

 cultivation in America, a plant yields about fifty potatoes of about 

 two inches diameter, oblong, and of reddish color. They ripened 

 at Vienna, in Austria, but not before November. A few years 

 later Raleigh brought some from North Carolina to England. One 

 of his ofiicers by the name of Thomas Harriott had charge of 

 them. Unhappily, no drawing or description of the plant was 

 made by him. One plant of the Virginia potato was drawn and 

 described by Gerarde in 1597. He draws the tubers as being 

 very small ; the plant seems to be drawn at the time of its flower- 

 ing. 



From these facts we may fairly hope to find the potatoes of the 

 verrucosum become larger by continued culture, and also earlier 

 in ripening than is common to other plants on cultivation. 



