HISTORY OF THE POTATO. 
33 
two which stand pre-eminently conspicuous from their 
general adoption ; unlike in their natures, both have 
been received as extensive blessings— the one by its 
nutritive powers tends to support, the other by its nar- 
cotic virtues to soothe and comfort the human frame— 
the potato and tobacco : but very different was the favor 
with which these plants were viewed : the one, long re- 
jected, by the slow operation of time, and perhaps of 
necessity, was at length cherished, and has become the 
support of millions ; but nearly one hundred and twenty 
years passed away before even a trial of its merits was 
attempted : whereas the tobacco from Yucatan, in less 
than seventy years after the discovery, appears to have 
been extensively cultivated in Portugal, and is, perhaps, 
the most generally adopted superfluous vegetable pro- 
duct known ; for sugar and opium are not in such com- 
mon use. Luxuries, usually, are expensive pleasures, 
and hence confined to few : but this sedative herb, from 
its cheapness, is accessible to almost every one, and is 
the favorite indulgence of a large portion of mankind. 
Food and rest are the great requirements of mortal life : 
the potato, by its starch, satisfies the demands of hun- 
ger ; the tobacco, by its morphin, calms the turbulence 
of the mind : the former becomes a necessity required ,* 
the latter a gratification sought for. 
Many as the uses are to which this root is applicable 
— and it will be annually applied to more ; if we con- 
! sider it merely as an article of food, though subject to 
i occasional partial failures, yet exempted from the blights, 
the mildews, the wire- worms, the germinatings of corn, 
which have often filled our land with wailings and with 
death, we will hail the individual, whoever he might 
be, who brought it to us, as one of the greatest bene- 
factors to the human race, and with grateful hearts thank 
the bountiful giver of all good things for this most ex- 
! tensive blessing. 
It is a well-known fact, that we are perfectly ignorant 
of the native sites of nearly all those gramineous plants, 
I distinguished by Linnaeus as Cerealia, whose seeds have 
from the earliest periods of time served for the food of 
man, such as wheat, rye, barley, rice, maize, oats : per- 
