THE DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



The potato was introduced, probably in the latter half of the sixteenth century, 

 into that part of the United States now known as Virgina and North Carolina. It 

 was imported into Europe between 1580 and 1585, first by the Spaniards and after- 

 wards by the English, at the time of Sir Walter Raleigh's voyages to Virginia. 



It is believed that the potato was first introduced into Ireland in 1586 by 

 colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, and was at first cultivated on Sir Walter's 

 estate near Cork. The cultivation of potatoes then extended from this place to the 

 poorer Irish classes and later into England. The cultivation of the potato in England 

 made little progress and potatoes were scarce for many years. 



In 1769 the grain-crops of France were a failure, threatening a national famine. 

 Parmentier, a chemist, recommended the use of potatoes to supplement the grain- 

 crops. These were tested out and found to be so palatable that they soon became 

 a staple food of the French people. 



In 1772 the potato was used to supplement the grain-crop of Germany also. 



In 1663 the Royal Society of London recommended the introduction of the potato 

 into Ireland, as a safeguard against famine. By 1840 it had become the staple food 

 of the Irish people. In 1845 the so-called late-blight disease was beginning to attract 

 widespread attention, and it caused great loss in this year, both in North America 

 and Western Europe. In 1846 it destroyed the potato-crop in Ireland, giving rise to 

 a famine. 



In America the settlers were using the potato for food in the seventeenth century. 

 The production has gradually increased and improvement been made by the origina- 

 tion of new varieties and improved cultural methods, so much so that to-day it is one 

 of the most important cultivated crops. 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERS. 



The potato belongs to the Solanacese, a family containing about 1,500 species, 

 distributed in about seventy genera. It includes a number of economic plants besides 

 the potato ; e.g., egg-plant, tomato, tobacco, etc. (The sweet potato, however, belongs 

 to a different family.) The genus Solanum contains about 900 species, chiefly from 

 tropical America. S. tuberosum, the potato, is one of the best known. 



Fig. 2. The tuber is formed by the thickening of the under- 

 ground stem (after Montgomery). 



The potato is a herbaceous plant; annual as regards its aerial shoots, but 

 perennial by means of its tubers. The leaves are alternate on the stem, compound 

 pinnate, with a terminal leaflet. Leaflets petiolate. Small leaflets occur in between 

 the normal ones. The leaves vary a good deal in different varieties. 



The stems are of two kinds: (1) Aerial or leaf -bearing, but erroneously spoken 

 of as " vines " ; (2) underground or tuber-bearing (rhizomes). These two forms are 



