l82 THE BOOK OF USEFUL PLANTS 



This makes it plain that the tubers are under- 

 ground stems, not roots. They act for the plant 

 as storage places for reserve food. 



Many potato plants have abandoned the habit 

 of flowering, and rely for the continuation of the 

 race upon the tubers, which are dormant through 

 the winter, but sprout when spring comes. The 

 potato plant dies like any annual. The tuber 

 grows the second spring like the root of a biennial, 

 such as the beet and parsnip. The farmer cuts 

 up the "seed potatoes" into pieces with a generous 

 portion of the starchy flesh to each good "eye." 

 He plants these pieces, and each bud sends up a 

 plant. These "cuttings" produce plants like the 

 parent. Potato seeds rarely do this. The experi- 

 menting seedsman plants potato seeds in hope of 

 discovering among the plants a new and desirable 

 variety. Once in a hundred trials he may get 

 something worth while. It is an interesting game. 



High in the Andes of Chile and Peru the potato 

 grows wild. It is common, too, along the coast. 

 Related species are abundant in the highlands of 

 Central America and Mexico. 



The Spanish invaders probably brought it to 

 Europe during the sixteenth century, and it spread 

 rapidly through the southern countries. These 

 same explorers may have been the means of estab- 



