The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1876-12-23
The potato--yts History.

This plant. known to botanlsts a. So
imam I,Jey0suja. is native of the West
orn continent. having been found Ivy tho
oarIy Spnaish and Portuguese advcntur-
ors. growing wild in the northern por-
+ions of South America. II was found
growing wild in Buenos Avres and
Chill. at Cuzco in Peru. At Quito in
. Enuidor, and in the forests of BogO,a in
New Granada. The high table lands Of
the Andes range of mountains seems to
have been its favorite habitation. 1T NJ
pears to have been cultivated by the in
habitants of those regions long prior to
its discovery by Europeans. At Quito
it has been Praised from time immcmo-
rial. at an elevation of over 10000
feet above the level of the ocean.
At lust what time it was introduced
into Europe it is difficult to tell.
as we have but little history ON
the subject. and what we have i. some
what confused and contradictory. 1t is
pretty well established. however. that it
was taken 10 Europe early in the six
teenth century. II was cultivated III
Spain and Italy as early "a 1880. having
been carried to those countries Ivy Span
ish sailors. In 1856 SIR W. Raleigh
took the potato with him to England.
on returning from one of his VOYAGES to
Virginia Two years later it was intro
duccd into Vienna from Italy. 1t was
taken to Ireland in the wear 1910: to
Scotland in l12S. and to Germany III
ITO. 1t seems to have been cultivated
by the Colonists in this country at quite
an early day. but at just what date be-
lievc history does not inform us.
Strange as it may seem to MS at the pre-
sent day. the potato made its way into
public favor as an article OF diet with
extreme slowncss. AZ first it was gen
orally regarded rs merely an ornamen-
tai plant. The impression was quite
prevalent that it was poison. probably
from the fact that il belonged to the
msht-shade family, which was known
to contain some plants of very poison
Gus character. Tho potato slowly but
gradually worked its way into public
favor against strong opposition. Some
opposed its use because it was not mon
toned in the Bible, and others for varl-
ous other reasons. Various plans were
employed to secure IL recognition of its
merits Ivy the people. Instructions for
as Il food production was published. and
distributed among the people. One Par
menticr. of France, planted crop. and
had il guarded as very precious. but
afterwards gave the peasants chance
80 carry them off by stealth. and thus
they became acquainted with their cX-
ccllencies. But with all these efforts the
potato did not become generally popu-
lar as an article of diet until the begin
ming of the present century.
When the prejudice against its use
had passed away and the people had
learned its value rs a food. and how
cheaply it could be produced, it soon
became immensely popular. and it has
so completely taken the place of other
food productions in some countries that
failure of it is followed by alarming
dcstitution and suffering. About 1915
disease known as the rot appeared in
Europe. devastating the potato fields to
such an extent as to cause great want,
especially in Ireland, where it produced
the Irish famine" During the past
ten or twelve years there has been al
most a mania for producing new varie-
ties. which has resulted in many kinds
of superior merit. Some OF these have
commanded enormous prices. A few
years ago the Colorado potato beetles
came down from the mountains of the
West. and have been, and still are.
marching across the country to the East
committing serious ravagcs on this crop.
They are. however. largely disappearing
from the fields of the West. and it is
hoped that their race will soon be run.
-E.cclanqe.