.■-;^a»?^ES!ws^»!B;»3'5i!;«K'P?^*'|l'Jr-<AFr'fR 



1861 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER 



75 



Should we not rnise a monument to the memo- 

 ry of those great men who have rescued this 

 plant from the Chinese, within whose walls it 

 has not been appreciated, and especially the dis- 

 interested horticulturists who have sent this 

 "great boon" in tin cases through every express 

 to all parts of our beloved country ? We feel it 

 our duty to head a subscription for a monument 

 in which no one shall be allowed to subscribe 

 more than ten cents, so as to give the "million " 

 an opportunity to show their gratitude. A pre 

 mium of forty cents should be oflfered for the 

 best plan of th-e designs to be cut thereon. On 

 one side should be a "Dioscorea" rampant on 

 an island, bcrdered with a row of Morus Multi- 

 caulis filled with si'k worms, busy with their 

 spinning; a field of Rohan potatoes, and four 

 rows of China tree corn, and the same number 

 of the Wyandott, with the small spaces filled 

 with a few hardy varieties of native grapes, all 

 " more prolific and valuable than the Isabella or 

 Catawba." 



this " food for the million " will be but the play- 

 thing of machinery that will plant, cnltiva'e and 

 dig it, as well as send it ready cooked to our ta- 

 bles. AYonders are never to cease, and we may 

 confidently looked forward to ether?, emanating 

 from the same source, and the Saxon banner shall 

 wave over Pagodas, or point the investigating 

 line of march over the mystic fields of Bohea 

 and Souchong. 



WHAT WE DID WITH OUR BATATAS. 



With all modesty we present our plan of this 

 towering xxTonument" that, like the leaning tower 

 Pisa, shal' be the wonder of all future time. So 

 soon as the plan is approved by the "million" 

 and the proper officers elected, we will send out 

 a circular to let the world know where to deposit 

 the dimes. 



It was half a century before the potato became 

 well known, and its merits as food appreciated, 

 but then there were no railroads, no steamboats, 

 no mails, and but few schools. TliC dark ages 

 were just beginning to lift their sable curtains 

 from the western horizon, and the dawn lighted 

 up the banner of the Saxon, and it became the 

 day star of hope to geniua, whose onward pro- 

 gress has not been stayed by even the high stone 

 fence that encircles the great empire of the 

 " brother of the moon." The potato has become 

 the every day food of the temperate zone, is of 

 easy culture, growing upon almost any soil, and 

 producing, in many cases, hundreds of bushels 

 to the acre. From twenty to sixty bushels can 

 be dug in a day. What then may we not ex- 

 pect from the Dioscorea in these days of great 

 things ? Within the next fifty years it will have 

 reached every part of the country, and genius 

 will have come to its aid, and its huge roots, 

 such as we have received from our friend Ells- 

 worth, will be excavated by steam ; in fact, we 

 have already seen the rude drawing of an exca- 

 vator, driven by a thirty horse power engine, 

 digging the "farinaceous wonder" from its lower 

 depth. We must look forward to the day when 



Six inches of the lower end of the specimen 

 we cut ofif with our pen knife and srnt it to the 

 kitchen, where it was placed in boiling hot water, 

 and in the incredibly short time of twenty min- 

 utes, was cooked through and through. It was 

 then served up and partaken of by ourself and 

 Mrs. Rural, and a large numbr of young Rurals, 

 and our gardener, all of whom agretd that it was 

 equal to the common potato in some respects, but 

 as compared to the sweet potato, it was not to 

 be considered in the same list. Tie flesh ii 

 white and farinaceous, too much so to have the 

 value of the common potato for food. Its taste 

 is agreeable and pleasant, and could itbeproduced 

 as cheaply as the common potato, would proba- 

 bly prove valuable to mix with flour for bread. 



The remaining sixteen inches have been placed 

 in a hot bed, like the sweet pota'o, to grow sets 

 for planting. These we propose to distribute 

 gratis to the " million," for their especial benefit 

 We have been careful in our account not to touch 

 upon the rights of others in regard to this plant, 

 and before sending this copy to the printer, have 

 taken the opinion of eminent lawyers that it con- 

 tains no slander against the great " Llama;" but 

 is a simple narrative of facts and fancies wisely 

 adapted to the " million." 



RUHAL. 



By the date of the above^ it will be seen 

 that near three years have elapsed, and yet 

 the plant has met with no further success, 

 and some of its friends propose that it be 

 planted along the routes of travel to the Pa- 

 cific and the gold diggings this side of the 

 Rocky Mountains. Wonder if these disin- 

 terested philanthropists would be willing to 

 sell the plants at reduced rates, "When this 

 humbug was first attempted, we took our 

 stand against it, and came near being involv- 

 ed in a suit for damages, in using pretty 

 plain Saxon in regard to its value, but we 

 have outlived all this; while the humbug 



