166 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



old people as scarcely fit food for respectable people. u The 

 potato is now considered as the most useful esculent that is culti- 

 vated. It is at the same time the most universally liked ; it seems 

 to suit every palate. So generally is it relished, and so nutritious 

 is it accounted, that on many tables it now appears almost every 

 day in the year." Edin. Encyc. The use of the potato has made 

 a great change as to some articles of food. The plant is likely to go 

 on in improvement. A rather sandy soil appears best fitted for 

 producing those most excellent for the table. To secure the con- 

 tinuance of a good variety, it is necessary to plant it in grounds 

 separate from others. 



The varieties of the potato need not enumeration. Those 

 called the Pink-eye, the English White, Lady-finger, &c, have 

 proved pretty durable varieties. The Rohan potato is attracting 

 much attention at this time, from its size and the abundance of its 

 yield, being several times that of any other yet known. 



The principal part of the Potato root is starch, great quantities 

 of which are manufactured from it in farmhouses for domestic 

 use. Its starch differs little from that of the wheat, and, besides 

 its " use in the laundry, and as a hair-powder, is considered an 

 equally delicate food as sago or arrow-root." Loudon. Though 

 starch is easily converted by a chemical process into sugar, the 

 fermentative process is too rapid and strong to admit of the pro- 

 duction of sugar from it, at least in any considerable quantity. 



£. lycopersicwn. L. Tomato. The specific name is from 

 the* Greek, for icolf and peach, from the beauty of the fruit and 

 its deceitful value. Loudon. The estimate of the fruit seems to 

 be much changed. It has for some time been " one of the most 

 important articles used in Italian cookery," and in England and 

 this country its cultivation has greatly increased, and it is now a 

 very agreeable and important vegetable. Its peculiar acid seems 

 to be most grateful to the stomach, and in many instances has 

 averted the evils of dyspepsia and kindred affections. A pro- 

 fessed extract of the fruit has been prepared for use, when the 

 fruit cannot be obtained. The danger of imposition upon the 

 public in all such cases need only be adverted to. The fruit, 

 plucked before it is ripe, is often pickled. The preservation 



