166 



THE POTATO TEECENTENAHT. 



given of the grounds upon wliich tho speakers based tlieir 

 conclusions. 



Of tho various subjects relating to the potato which 

 were discussed at the conference, the one which I propose to 

 take up is tho introduction of tho plant into Britain, and its 

 early history here. 



We know a great deal more of tlio history of the potato 

 than we can ever hope to know of the history of wheat or 

 other cereals ; the history of these latter being lost in the 

 mists of a remote antiquity, while that of the potato, con- 

 sidered as a European plant, is comparatively modern. No 

 botanist can point with certainty to the wild plant from 

 which our cultivated wheat has been developed, or name its 

 native habitat. The wild potato, on tho other hand, and its 

 habitat, are matters upon which botanists are, to a large 

 extent, agreed. Still there are many points regarding the 

 history of the potato which admit of controversy, and some, 

 probably, which will nevei' be settled. 



Three persons have been credited by different writers with 

 the introduction of the potato into England — Sir John 

 Hawkins, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh — all, 

 curiously enough, Devonshire men, and all prominent figures 

 in tho early history of the British navy. 



The earliest date assigned in books to the introduction of 

 tho potato into England is 1563. In " Haydn's Dictionary 

 of Dates," I read — " Potatoes were originally brought to 

 England from Santa Pe, in America, by Sir John Hawkins, 

 A.D. 1563"; and a similar announcement may be found in 

 other books of reference. Hawkins, to whom belongs the 

 unenviable distinction of being the first Englishman to 

 engage in the African .slave-trade, made throe voyages 

 about tho above-mentioned dato for the purpose of supply- 

 ing the Spanish colonies in the West Indies with slaves 



