The tri-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1866-1868, 1867-01-29
from the Western Democrat.
THE IRISH POTATO.

is Origin, sciM Hints up0n its Proper Culture.
The history of the Irish, or common
potato. (S0ielnuH tuberhs'An) since its
discovery as an edible root, until the
present time, is invested with consider
able interest. To elucidate this state
mcut, it is proposed, in the present
communication. to point out briefly a
few facts connected with its early intro
,iuction, dispersion over the civilized
world, and best mode of cultivation
not generally known.
The Potato belongs to an extremely
valuable and extensive natural order of
plants, species of which are found III all
parts Of the world, except the trigid
zone. The first definite account of the
Potato is by p. Cieca in his "Chroni-
cles of Peru" in 1853. He says, the
natives of Peru, have, besides Maize or
Indian Corn, a tubercular root they call
PuD0s. Some confusion has arisen
among early writers by confounding
this with the Batutas, or sweet Potato
(B. edulis) which belongs to a very
different order of plants. s.-After this it
is noticed by Gomara in 1858, and by
Cardan in 1857. 1t is usually stated
that the Potato was carried to Eng
land from the coast of North Carolina
by some of the returning adventures
under Sir Walter Raleigh in 1886; but
this is not satisfactorily ascertained. 1t
is probable the Indians, from whom we
derived our first knowledge of nearly
all the alimentary and medicinal prop
critics of American plants now in use,
cultivated the Potato prior to Raleigh's s
expedition Of discovery. 1t is known
Il considerable coasting trade was car
ried out that time between the Indians
and the Spaniards of the West Indies.
Foreign vessels also occasionally visi-
ted our shores for the purpose of eX-
changing their commodities for those
Of the New World, then rapidly rising
into estimation. But whether the Pota-
to was transported across the ocean 10y
some of RuleiWh's followers, or by other
parties connected with coasting vessels,
it certainly had rapid dispersion over
Europe, and attracted much curious
attention.
In an old work. "History of plants, -
by Bauhin, published in 1896, may be
found the first accurate description of
the Potato, which he informs us was
then cultivated in Italy In another
old work, Gerard's "Herbal," publish
ed in 1897, he speaks of receiving Pota-
toes from "Nirginia,' which then
included North-Carolina. We are also
informed that in 1888, T. de Sivry sent
Clusius, Professor Of Botany at Leyden,
two tubers which were carefully cult
waited, and from the grown plant. Clu-
sius described and gave the first repre-
sentation of the Potato in 1899. Up
wards Of half a century ago the Potato
wasfound in its wild state by Humboldt,
and since that time by other botanists,
OF the best quality, near Bogota, city
OF New Granada, situated upon the
mountains, $500 feet above the level Of
the sea. In the same locality were also
found cabbage, nasturtiIlm, several
varieties of pepper, &c, which continue
to grow, with little interruption
throughout the ycar.-The thermometer
It IS said never rises above "a degrees,
nor sinks to the freezing point. The
Potato has been discovered in Peru;
and on nearly all the elevated table
lands of South America some of it's
species may be found, including that
valuable esculent the Tomato IS. Lyco-
I,e''sicuoa) now SO extensively used in
the United States as an article of food,
and believed to have a corrective agen-
cy over the hillary system. 1t will thus
be seen that the specific title, Irish, is a
misnomer; it should more appropriately
be called the American, or common
Potato, as, we find, has been done in
some of the volumes of the Patent Office
Reports. But the adjective Irish is,
perhaps, too firmly fixed to be easily
removed. In the moist, cool, and
moderate climate of Ireland it finds a
soil peculiarly adapted to it's profitable
growth. If it is true, "the rose will
smell rs sweet with any other name,"
then surely we can enjoy the exquisite
luxury of eating healthy, meally Po-
tato, Notwithstanding it may bear, in
part, drogmish appellation. Besides
the uses Of the common Potato as an