The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-25
TRI-oENTENARr or THE POTATO.
The Useful Tuber Was Introduced
Into Great Britain by Raleigh in
1896.

/ 1896.
| From the New York Herald.
The tri-centenary Of the introduction of
the potato is to be celebrated in England
this year. for it was in 1886. exactly three
centuries ago, that Sir Walter Raleigh
planted the first Irish potato in his estate.
at Youghal. near Cork. A month later his
example was followed in HolbOrn. Eng
land. Ii is a singular fact that an insig
| nihcant plant, with no beauty OF leaves
l or flowers. with a nauseous odOr and
Juice OF a poisonous quality, growing wild
l among the crevices of the rocks which
| bound the shores OF Peru and Chill, UNI
l known TO the world at large, ana all bu.
/ neglected by the rude natives should have
/ been Transcend three centuries ago TO Eu-
i rope, eventually TO become one OF the
| most important articles Of human diet
ana largely influence the population OF
half the globe
The potato belongs to a family OF plants
/ ootanieally known as the Solanaceae,
/ which includes the deadly nightshade
and other poisonous plants. The juice of
| ITS own leaves and stems. and even of the
i skins of its tubers, Is slightly poisonous.
/ In It's native state the plant is small, and
\ the tubers rarely exceed the size of a wal
/ nut or common chestnut. They are also
/ Of moist, waxy consistence, and have
| slightly bitterish taste. The color of the
! blossoms is generally white, instead of the
red and purple hues OF the cultivated
The tubers are not the roots of the
plant, but are true underground stems,
| and their use in nature appears to AFFORD
/ another means Of propagating the plants
\ besides that of the seeds, which are con-
| tanned in the fruit or apple The tubers
| contain terminating points or eyes, just
/ as aerial stems have leaf buds, from
/ which young shoots spring forth. These
/ tubers after their maturity are washed
| out of the soil by rains and carried by
| the torrents along the vrevices of the rock
/ the torrents along the crevices Of the
rocks and into the intervening valleys,
| where they take root and give rise TO new
plants.
BY careful cultivation Of man, however,
a new use has been developed in them.
\ These small waxy and bitter tubers have
/ been swelled out into large farinaceous,
| palatable potatoes, one single stem pro-
| dueing many pounds weight of a sort of
| food nearly resembling and little inferior
to that of wheat or oats or barley. Never
| was such a gift bestowed on man since
| Ceres is tabled first to have brought the
| grains from heaven.
| But though more than three centuries
| have elapsed since the Introduction OF the
/ potato into Europe, strange to say. the
| name of him who first introduced the root
| rests upon nearly as doubtful authority
| as that of the planters of the cerealia more
| than 1900 years ago. AS to the introduce
| ton into Great Britain, however there is
| less doubt. II is certain that the eXpedi-
| ton sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in
1884 first brought the tuber to England.
| 1t is almost equally certain that Sir Wal
| ter Raleigh himself was the first person
| to plant it in British soil in the year 1885
/
| riod the potato, under the name of batata,
| was known in Europe.
| Nevertheless, neither in Great Britain
| nor the continent did it become immediate
1 ly popular For more than a century II
| languished in obscurity in England. Little
| known and less priced, 1t was connned
| to the gardens of botanists and the GU
| rious, and when used at ali as food, only
at the tables of the rich, as a rare vege-
| table rather than as standing dish. The
| potatoes furnished to. the table of James
l bore the high price of two shilHngs per
pound. In 1857 Woodbridge writes, of the
| tubers: Il do not hear that 1t has yet
| been essayed whether they may not be
| propagated in great QUANTITIES for the use
| of swine and other cattle" Mortimer's
| Garden Kalendar for 170S says, sighting
~: The root is very near the nature
| of the Jerusalem artichoke, although
| not so good and wholesome but it may
| prove good for swine"
Several reasons besides prejudice may
| be given for this neglect. Cultivation had
present perfection. The proper modes
| of cooking had not yet been hit upon.
And, lastly, vegetable food of any sort
was less sought after, or rather less with
in the reach of the mass of the people
than it is now. In time, however, the
grand discovery began. to be made that
this esculent was primarily the poor
| mans food and comfort. In Ireland, in
| Lancaster and the western districts of
| England, and in Scotland where the land
was portioned out in small parts on the
| cotter system, the potato culture, one be-
gun, rapidly advanced and spread over
-
| lean colonies of Great Britain.
| In France the potato was placed on the
| royal table as early as 1916. But it was
| an apothecary named Parmentier who
| really introduced it and did all he could
| to have 1t generally cultivated more than
| century and "a half later. In III
| Besancon for the discovery of a new
| food which should fill the place of cere-
| ais in case of a famine. Parmentier ex-
| hibited his potatoes. Louis XVI gave
| him fifty morgen of land wherein to
! plant them. His majesty also stuck the
| flowers of the potato In his buttonhole
| as bouquet. Marie Antoinette placed
| them in her hair in the evening. Fashion
ran wild after similar decorations. Par
| mentier s place was inundated by princes,
| dukes ana high functionaries. All Paris
| talked only of potatoes, and Parmentier.
| The king said to the latter: France
will thank you some time hence, because
| you have found bread for the poor"
1t is curious and noteworthy fact
| that the residence of Sir Walter Raleigh
| in Ireland, where he first planted the
| historic potato, is still extant and in
| good repair, and the other houses con-
| nected with his name have gone. Kilco-
man castle, in Cork, is a. roofess, ivy
| clad ruin on the estate of a descendant
| of the Barry, with whom Raleigh had
| a bitter feud. No alders are now to be
seen on the banks of the Mulla, once
| celebrated by Spencer. The manor house
| at East Budleigh has disappeared. But
| the warden's house of the college of
| Youghal, to which Raleigh took a fancy,
/
| leigh manor, and which he obtained af-
ter the confscation of the Earl of Des-
mond's property, still preserves his men,
DRY.
| The garden in which the potato was
| planted comprises five acres, backed by
the ancient town of Youghal. The house
! and garden were about twenty years ago
| purchased by Sir John Pope Hennessey,
| author of a life of Raleigh, and remain
| ed in his possession until his death in
1898 Then it was sold by his widow, who
| had enlisted the good offices of Geo.tge
| Francis Train to promote the sale.
An Instance Moral courage" said
the teacher, sis the courage that makes
| a boy do what he thinks is right, re-
| CARELESS of the jeers of his companions. !"
"Then," said Willie, IF a Teller has