"THP OriXAXO The potato is a native of the tabic lands ot Central America and South America. Centuries ago it grew wild in Peru and 
* Ecuador. The wild potato differs little from the cultivated sorts, except the tubers are smaller. Although a native of 
Its History and Value tropical countries, it has l)een transplanted to all climates, even within the Arctic Circle. Sir Walter Raleigh introduced 
the potato into Ireland just 309 years ago, and for 300 years potatoes have been grown on the plot of ground where 
he planted the first tuljcr. Its history, therefore, dates back barely 400 years, and in that resjjcct, as well as in others, it presents a marked contrast 
to corn and wheat, which were cultivated by the Egyptians and Chaldeans thousands of j'ears before the Christian era. From an unknown vegetable 
of a few hundred Vears ago, it has become a stupenduous article of commerce and a very important factor in our daily food. It is now cultivated in 
all ])arts of the world, and the demand for it, as an article of food and for other purposes, is growing every da3'. It was a long time before tlie potato 
began to be tised as food for man, but little by little it grew into popularity, and now stands next to the cereals in importance as a plant food. 
Very few far^ners are aware of the fact that thousands of bushels of potatoes are consumed in this country each year which are grown in Great 
Britain, Canada and on Prince Edward's Island. Of course, there is a duty to be paid on these importations, and quite heavy transportation charges. 
Some farmers will claim they are too far from a market to make potato growing profitable. To such we would say : how about the farmer the other 
side of the Atlantic ? The amount of it is, our farmers should grow not only all the potatos consumed in the United States, but have millions of 
bushels to export and sell to starch factories. There is a fair profit in growing potatoes, for the ordinary farmer, at 15c per bushel. Good, strong 
growing, lie;ivy yielding varieties will always pay handsomeh', and with pure, straight stock, you will always get a fancy price in market. 
The potato disease api)eared in Ireland in 18+6, and ten j'cars later in this country, supposed to be the result of growing the same crop in the 
same soil too often. From these causes the crop became a very uncertain one, and the Rev. Mr. Goodrich, of lltica, N. Y., commenced his attempts to 
improve the tuber. IJe(proc{tred wild tubers from South America, and in a few years produced many new varieties, healthy, vigorous and productive. 
The seed from one of these produced the Early Rose, which worked a new era in potato culture in this countrj-. Other new varieties followed. 
Some persons entertain the mistaken idea that different varicty^s of potatoes when grown in the same field will mix, as they choose to call it, or 
more properly, cross. This is impossible, as the tuber is in reality'the root, or rather an enlargement of the root of the plant. The seed balls grow- 
ing on tlie top of the plant are the fruit proper ; these balls arc produced from the flower of the plant/fust as ajipjes and otJier fruits ai-e prodticed from 
the bloom. By hybridizing these flowers, crosses are made and new varieties procured, and in thiS^vay only. The fruit proper of the potato is not 
used for food, but the root. 
All who grow potatoes have no doubt noticed in the past few years the almost entire absence of the seed balls, and some varieties of recent 
introduction, notably the " Early Ohio," do not ])roduce flowers. Ten years ago every plant bore numbers of these balls, while now they have none, 
or very few. A recent writer says this is the natural result of disuse. It is an axiom of nature that whatever is not required is gradually eliminated. 
We have no use for the flower and seed, using the tuber onl3', and the potato plant has made up its mind not to waste strength any longer. Whatever 
the cause, the fact remains that potato blossoms are becoming less in number every year, and in some sections such a thitig as a jjotato seed is a rarity. 
In the United States 2,500,000 acres are cultivated to potatoes, yielding 175,000,000 bushels, or an average of about 70 bushels per acre. 
This is the lowest avcrageof the 13 countries where potatoesarc grownextcnsively. In the United Kingdom the average is nearly. 200 bushels per acre. 
The trench system, originated by Dr. Carman, has jiroduced the best results yet tried ; by this method in widelj- different sections of this coun- 
try, potatoes have "grown on small plots at the rate of from 810 bushels to 1,061 bushels per acre, and Mr. Chas. B. Coy, of Presque Isle, Maine, 
grew on one measiu'cd acre 738 bushels. 
If farmers would grow fewer acres and use more manure and better culture, they would obtain much better results than by growing a large area 
and small average yield. 
