The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1882-02-11
THE Pc rATO.
Degencrating PropensigIes of Potatoes.

Degencra,ing PropensiIes of Potatoes
F,'oa THs Foot ond He"N.
Oar beloved tuhrr. ''thc tropical pc
iat". is Il sad apple of d>cosd n'rig
SCIENTISTS experts. growers and comsum
crS.
m, ms Peculiar propensity to prefer the
srArchv potato t. the !r-uninrus PEAS
aad inIitS; tive expert will prove That
Temperate Zones cannot produce this
much-Iuvr,l ;.>culrut as perfectly as GER
tain tropical climates: the grower will
lament his loss when the field SO well
tended produced hut hollow, Yellow.
watery tuberS. and the c"nsumer will
grnan over the black patched. ,tery.
ill-Smelling article he gets on his table.
What is to he done about il: 1t is
well nigh national question. whether
the pn,atn crop succeeds or not; it i
really Il humanitarian question whether
this crop fail utterly or not. Once, i'll
deed. IA whole nation nearly Succumbed
under the loss of the potato cr"p-ride
Ireland. In 1873 the potato crop failed
every where. Why WAS this failure uni
versal? What atmospheric Influences
brought abou. the change?
The potato is delicate plant: there is
no doubt about it. 1t is no, hardy
vegetable: it can only succeed under GER
intiscriminately The culture of the pp-
tato requires much more care than is
bestowed upon it. and much more intel
iigence than is thought necessary for it.
1t may be thought that potatoes must
be grown anyhow. as feeders of the mill
ions. We dissent from this. Potatoes
are now wanted to a very considerable
extent. We may boldly assert. that one
fourth OF all potatoes grown are lost by
| bad and unsuccessful culture. and onc-
fourth more by bad and unsuccessful
cooking, and that only twn-fourths of
the potatoes grown and cooked become
really available for the food of man.
THE POTATO A. \ F0oD.
The potato is, perhaps. the most re-
ma,,,al,Ie iustaur, of f;,ol. beIouoiur to
another than = tem,erate climate. bprom.
ing the generally adopted food of the lat
ter to the exclusion 81; the other. In no
trnpc,l country or .rmi.tropical country
is the potato as much eaten us in tem-
pcrate countries. In the Latter countries
! of Furn,,. aud America il is :, daily fonf
.rrne,all, adnrtrL As the rincinaI Veg. :
,,I,i. .;,'.iiti,,, t, meat fish u,,uftry. etc
/ Wnar au,ir,rs TIN. ,n,t,tn,u >u"h a uo,i
! ton? l., what night has il repac, d
! other ye-rtnh,,. rynwths in.irrnnus to
! IT,. soil and taken the lead where il
! should only have had a nropurtiunal
place. Does the potato possess so much
/ nu;,i-j,un Does !, p,.,...s :, much II,
v"r? 1t i 50 eaS, Of cultivation ar So
/ easy OF preparatory What is il? II
would ne dillirnIr to answer these CUES
lions: usage. more than any thing else.
his raised the potato ON her pedestal.
/ from which reason alone can d.thrnpr
her. The p..t.tn. in fact. is a ,le!ici.nS
| ruher when well crown. healthy and well
prepared: but a very inii2estible and
useless food when these qualities are not
combined
Sorry was the day for Ireland when
fine not,to was first introduced It's cuI-
/ tivotinu brnuubt the first downward step
/ t. that once wcll-cuitiv tted country.
! which exported wheat and WAS full of
the richness of the land. The potato
mldt Ireland lazy. influenced the BRAIN
/ progress nj its common people. by max
| ing the latter eXcitable aud unstable from
want of solid nourishment. and l"wert d
the whole status of the nation. 1t is a
wonder that people fed for one century
( Oh P"t"t"eH c'u'" SUN H""" 81 i'i"'h
hardness 5" m"ch purpose SO much
/ nrhneSS. ii tne means taken 10 Sno"