The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-16 00:00:00

COLONIAL.

PRINCE EDWARD'S ISLAND.—SusstrirrEs
FOR THE POTATO.-Mr. A. Gesner has addressed a letter to
the secretary of the Royal Agricultural Society of this colony,
in which ho states that during his geological reeennoiescuseraf
the island, he has embraced every opportunity to seek fee
the esculent roots upon which the aborigines subsisted for-
merly. With the aid of two intelligent Micmac Indians, be
has obtained two kinds of farinaceous roots, " as promiiing
is their appearance as were the indigenous potatoes at
Virginia, carried to Ireland by Sir Walter Raleigh, from
which the common kind was derived." Mr. Gutter pros
lathes, as soon as his public duties are finished, to prosecute
the inquiry. In the meantime, he will forward specimens Of
the roots to agricultural societies in England and the neigh-
bouring provinces ; and he has already engaged several goof
farmers in Prince Edward's Island to try experiments with
them. His account of the roots is as follows:

``llle Brat roOt.Tra; found at Idog I;la1;c1,I(M14;hinood Ray. It a
called by the Indiana mw-ea-ante. When discovered (Aug. 3), the top
of the plant bad withered, and no correct opinion could be formed re.
peeing its appearance above ground. The bulbs, now perfectly ripe,
were found in the hard-wood fe an inch deep in the nod, which is
covered by a thin layer of decayed team( To some bitlbn the dry
tops and ligaments were attach The surface where these roots al
found is completely shaded ; but the soil is good and the aspect
They may be obtained in other parts of Prince Edward's island, bet
they are rare, and it was with difficulty that a pint of them could In
procured by a whole Indian family. The average size of the bells*
that of cherries], but a few are found of much larger thinned. h
their appearance they resemblethe common potato, having apparently
the peculiar indentanom called eyes. The akin of the bulb in of a rusty
brown colour, and the ligament by which each was nourished was fold
perfect, although it was dry from tiptoe.. The interior of the balk
as very white, and the root, has the Mate and odour of the potato new
in use. The Indians state that this vegetable, if kept either in a dry
or moist state, will not suffer any decay for a long period. Iley an
very &emend*, and contain a large per centage of starch, which
remedies that made from wheat; by being dried the bulb did a
little ; bat it immediately expand. on being thrown into warm der.
As an article of food it to excellent, and as such is highly esteemed by
the Indians, who generally remove every root as soon as the habitat
of the 'plant is discovered. It contains much nutrit ye matter, is
whadome, and I have no doubt, if properly cultivated, it wM prom
to be ptolillc. This plant is very different from a variety of wild
arts hake found in the neighbouring provinces ; with it grows a ioag
white root called by the aborigines eau-chook, which is employed by
them for medicinal purposes.
The other kind of wild farinaceous root, which is more pleatifal
than the one already noticed, is called by the Indians saisina4m.
It was found on several of the islands in Richmond Ray, but meat
plentiful at the base of the mad mounds of Flab Island. Its favourite
site seems to be along the skirts of the sand-bills that form the
deans along the mad, where it is nourished by decomposed see.
weed and shells. It occurs in the midst of matted grams and wild
tares, and frequently occupies patches of several Nunn rads. The
leaf of the saavdadern resembles the leaf of cultivated potato. he
stock is like a small vine ; the mots are situated two inches below the
surface of the soil, and the bulb., of oval figure, are strung together
like beads, being attached to mob other by a strung ligament. They
are of a blackish brown colour, and also resemble potatoes in their
general characters, being dry, farinaceous and very nutritive.
They are eaten by the Indiana, and have saved zany
from starvation at times when, from boisterous weather or other
cause, they could not escape from the island.. ; yet they are ma-
' dried by them lees palatable than the muspid-rete. The existence sf
both varieties and their sites the native* have long endeavoured to
keep secret from the white inhabitants, and their preservation on the
islands may be earthed to the absence of wild animals at those isolated
places, for the racoon, woodchuck, and porcupine detour yes'
greedily. The plant is very hardy, and the stock that remains in the
ground during the winter, sends up green shoots in the succeeding
spring; the decayed tubes are found with ripe bulb.. This vane,
wasfound on the 12th day of Attempt, at which time the blowonts bad
disappeared, and the need had probably fallen, sthomth the Mlle are
not ripe at the date of this communication. I have eaten some of the
roots, and found them very dry, mealy, and palatable."