HISTORY OF THE POTATO. 75 
" In happy triumph shall forever live, 
And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive." 
When we do this, and only then, shall we recognize that "God-likeness is 
profitable unto all things." That it is cheaper as well as better to teach people 
to be and do good, then punish them for doing ill, and that when they go astray, 
it is better to lead them back to the ways of virtue and morality than to punish 
them for having gone astray. 
In this way, and in this way only, shall we bring about, what we so often 
pray for, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done." He is love, and His king- 
dom and power, is not physical force, but love. To do this effectively and sys- 
tematically, it must be taught in our schools, taught in our colleges, taught in our 
literature and in every day Ufe, as well as from pulpits and lecture stands. Our 
prison management must be schools for reforming, and not dens for punishing 
criminals. No life must be taken, for society has no right in life. None are so 
bad that they cannot be kept separate, even it may be for the whole of life. With 
proper training in most cases a truer appreciation of the object and scope of life 
will be obtained by criminals by the time set for the period of incarceration. If 
at that time they show no ability to control themselves, let the time of training be 
extended, and not as is the case now, send them abroad to again prey on society. 
In other words cure the moral distemper, no matter how much time it may 
require 
BOTANY 
HISTORY OF THE POTATO. 
L. J. TEMPLIN, CANON CITY, COLORADO. 
The common potato was unknown to the inhabitants of the eastern conti- 
nent till after the discovery of America by Columbus. The potato known to the 
ancients, and that is spoken of by Shakespeare and other English writers, was 
not the common potato, but it was the sweet potato. Convolvulus Batata. The 
early history of the potato is involved in considerable obscurity, as the references 
to it by the historians of those times are quite meager and somewhat contradic- 
tory. A careful collation and sifting of the various references to this subject 
seem to justify the following statements : 
The first reference we find to the potato in connection with European history 
is related to the first voyage of Columbus. When on the island of Cuba some of 
his men visited the interior of that island and there discovered maize and a root 
that was used for food, and that was doubtless the potato. On visiting the con- 
tinent of South America, European adventurers and travelers found the potato 
