THE OEIGIN OF OUE KITCHEN GAEDBN PLANTS. 197 
were left in the same spot from year to year. No attempt was 
made at a more extended culture. In 1728^ however^ a Scotch 
day-labonrer_, named Thomas Prentice^ living near Kilsyth^ Stir- 
lingshire^ carefully cultivated the potato as food^ and_, after 
supplying the wants of his own family_, sold the remainder of 
the produce to his neighbours^ who very willingly paid him 
his own price^ being convinced by his example that potatoes 
were wholesome and nutritious. Prentice was frugal and 
industrious^ and soon found himself in possession of £200, no 
small fortune in those days. He now sank his capital in an 
annuity at a good interest, upon which he lived independently 
in his old age, dying in the year 1792, at the advanced age of 
86 — (potatoes evidently agreed with him) — having been 64 
years a happy witness to the effects of the blessing which he 
had been instrumental in conferring on his country. 
The potato appears to have been taken into favour much 
earlier in England, as appears from a report of a meeting 
of the Ray Society, held March 18th, 1662, when a letter was 
read from Mr. Buckland, a Somersetshire gentleman, recom- 
mending the planting of potatoes. This was referred to a 
committee, who reported favourably, and Mr. Buckland 
received the thanks of the Society. From this time the field 
culture of the potato commenced and rapidly extended as its 
excellent qualities became more known. A strange objection 
was made by the Puritans, who denied the lawfulness of eating 
potatoes because the plant was not mentioned in the Bible ! 
Whether or no, a plant so nutritious, and whose culture is 
adapted to almost every soil and climate, must be regarded as 
amongst the choicest gifts of Providence. Our countrymen 
have since done ample justice to this plant, for now, wherever 
the Englishman seeks a home, he always strives to naturalize 
the potato plant, and, even when surrounded by the luxuries 
of tropical lands, remembers the simple vegetable which was 
so long struggling into notice in his own country. 
The Parsnip [Pastinaca sativa, L.). — This plant belongs to 
the natural order IJmbellifera), and is closely related to the 
carrot, celery, and parsley, which belong to the same natural 
order. It is a native of Britain, and of different parts of 
Europe, and is usually most plentiful on dry banks or on a 
chalky soil. It is difficult to say whether it is to cultivation 
or importation that we are indebted for this root. Most 
likely the former, as it is undeniable that the wild plant, grown 
for two or three years in rich garden soil, acquires all the 
characters of the cultivated form, and that when the garden 
plant escapes into uncultivated ground, it speedily reverts 
back to its originally wild and degenerate condition. Parsnips 
appear to have been very early reclaimed from a wild state. 
