56 THE POTATO 
the cross sectioned half. Hold these up to the 
light. Are the faint spots and lines any easier 
to see? 
13. Dip some thin slices of potato into a saucer or glass 
of water. Squeeze these in the water until it 
becomes milky. Let the water stand until after 
school, or, better still, over night, and you will 
find some jive white powder in the bottom of the 
glass. This powder is starch. 
Information 
The potato grows in the ground, but it is not a root; it is an 
underground stem, a very much swollen stem, yet still a stem. 
How can we prove this? First, if the potato were a root, it 
would have little rootlets growing from it. The potato has none. 
Second, if the potato were a stem, shoots with leaves would 
grow from it. This is just what happens. 
_ The eyes of the potato are really the little buds of shoots, or 
branches, and under the right conditions of heat and moisture 
they will begin to grow. Hence we conclude that the potato is 
a stem. 
When a potato, or a piece containing an eye, is planted in 
the spring, long shoots are sent up from the eye, and these bear 
leaves and make the potato plant. 
The eyebrow is really a little fold on which a leaf rests, and 
the tiny scale upon it is a leaf, very much dried and changed, 
but still a true leaf. 
