Southwest aD/useum Leaflets 



thought that the word was brought to this country by negro 

 slaves and by them applied to American sweet-potatoes. In 

 the West Indies the word yam is also applied to plants having 

 large starchy roots. 



When the Spaniards entered Peru they brought with them 

 the word batata for sweet-potato and applied it to the white 

 tubers which in that area had been developed into what are 

 now generally called potatoes, but which the Incas of Peru 

 called papas. Spanish ship captains who, while cruising about 

 western South America, had been feeding their crews with 

 these white potatoes, were probably the first to take to Europe 

 this strange food of the New World. This was soon after 

 the year 15 80. From Spain the cultivation of the potato pres- 

 ently spread to Italy, Belgium, and Austria; but strangely 

 the cultivation of the plant was almost exclusively for its 

 blossoms. It was nearly a century later that it attained a 

 reputation as a food staple. 



It is not definitely known by whom or at what date white 

 potatoes were introduced into Ireland, though it positively 

 is known that they were under cultivation there as a field 

 crop before 1663. In time the Irish learned to relish them 

 exceedingly, and to subsist largely upon them. Emigrating 

 to New England in 1719, Irish colonists brought along with 

 them the potatoes which the Yankees called Irish potatoes. 

 Other colloquial names for them are "murphies" and "spuds," 

 the latter being the name of the long narrow spades some- 

 times used in digging potatoes. 



In 1744 Frederick the Great of Prussia compelled the 

 peasants to grow potatoes. At the time of the Seven Years' 

 War a Frenchman, Antoine Auguste Parmentier, while a pris- 

 oner in Germany was fed upon potatoes and learned to like 

 them; and on his return to his own country he induced Louis 

 XVI to popularize potatoes in France. This was accomplished 

 by growing the tubers in a large field, conspicuously guarded 

 by soldiers during the daytime only. At night, when the 

 guards were absent, the people stole the potatoes which they 

 would eat or would plant in their own gardens. And then 

 when the King and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, wore potato 

 blossoms on their elaborate costumes, the popularity of the 

 potato became firmly established. 



Potatoes belong to the nightshade family and it is believed 

 that they were developed from tiny white tubers in Peru; but 

 as no wild potatoes are found there now, botanists generally 



