South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1882-10-20
History of the Potato.

Shakespeare mentions potatoes twice
once in the Merry Wives OF Wind
sor, once in 'rroilus aud Cressida.' In
tue latter and la'er play Thersitcs, in
the former Falstaff, is the speaker OF
the word o. course, it is an anach.
ronism, but what root did Shakespear,
himself allude to3 The word potato in
1912 and 1909, the dates of those plays
respectively. designated two different
Plants-one our potato, solanum, the
other q convolvu!us, O well-known plant
at this day, but too tender Tor our eli.
mate. 1t il grown under glass. This
latter root, batatas, was imported from
Spain, but merely AS an article of food
and was anterior in TINA here TO the
introduction OF cur now common pota
20. There is no evidence, though there
Is oplnIon, OF the exact date OF the in
PRODUCTION ut this plant-our potato
into England But. as il is figured in
Gerards Herbal published in 1897
though under the m staken nam: OF ba
tatas, and must have been previously
known in England. Shakespeare NAV
very we'll have known both routs Now
# We look at the contex. of Fals,airs
speech the aiusion is plainly 10 com
mon error OF that time AS to the sup.
posed provocative qualities of the root.
But as such errors soon became current
the imputation may have arisen as TO
the later In time, or it may have fas.
tened on the earl Ter and have exicndc d
10 both. 1t was certainly so Eeieve d
Tor time as to our common potato
The context then, does not really help
us. Both plants came TO Europe - to
Spain-from Spanish America, about a
century before 1909. As tue beauty OF
the plant could not have been the mo-
tive, our potato mus, have been intro.
duced into Spain, whence IL spread in
to the low countries while under Spain
as an article of food But it dill not for
many years become an article of food
In any VI !he countries, nor in England
IT. made slow progress, and There is Il
general silence about il.
We may reasonably suppose that ev-
cry grower of 1t who had heard Of :
nature tried IL once or more as an eli
BILE tuber, since for that purpose it was
grown. The reasonable conclusion j.
that IL did not at first please European
palates. Ireland was the first country
in Europe in which i, became gaze ally
grown a. an article of food. Thence it
extended TO Lancashire, and the Ian
castrians made it known, and brought
it into use in other English countries.
IT. is in my own recol ecion that no
cockney can boil potato was com
mon opinion in Llncashire. Sidney
Smith gave IL his sanction when he said
tho first question to put - candidate
cook is, Can you boil potato? | do
not in the least question that Hawkins
introduced the potato into Ireani. |
see no improbabili'y in that tradition.
But evidence we have none. OF least
none has fallen under my observation.
though | have searched !or evidence in
all such works as have / at hand The
early trans ictions OF the Royal Society
may possibly throw some light on the
subject. can find nothing in the lila
ries OF Evelyn or Of Pepys relating TO
the potato. Had Pepys eaten Of it ten.
tatively, ! think he would have noted
It as he does tea AMI nettie porridge -
London Times.