The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-12-29
POTATOES.
South American Emigrants Natural.
lied in Europe,

South American Emigrants Natural
lied in Europe.
The chronicle of one of the old
Spanish travellers, published in 1853
says: The people of Peru eat a tuber.
Gus root which they call papas." The
Spaplards took this root to Spain
where it was grown as the truffle
root" The Italians very quickly
adopted it into their garden and soon
the Dutch were cultivating it with
much the same zeal that they display
ed for tulips. OF its introduction in
! to England, all that we are sure OF
is that in 1886 Sir Walter Raleigh
was growing potatoes in his Irish
garden. Thomas Harlot, in his ac-
count Of Virginia, names potatoes
! among the roots that were found
growing there, saying that some of
them were as big as a walnut, and
others considerably larger. The Vir-
ginia potato seems to have been that
which is now known as the Irish,
while that grown in Peru is more
likely to have been a sweet potato.
Another writer, describing the escu-
Tents of Virginia, says that the pota-
| to root is thick, fat and tuberous.
| not differing much in shape from the
sweet potato, except that the roots
are not SO great or long while some
| OF them are round as a ball, and
others are oval in the egg fashion,
OF which the knCb5ie rooteS are fast
ened with an infinite number of tired
die strings.
Early in the seventeenth century
Raleigh's plantation of potatoes had
been repeated all over Ireland but
the farmers Of England moved by
stubborn prejudice and possibly in
part by jealousy decided that they
would have nothing to do with the
tuber. Shakespeare makes Falstaff
imagine that the heavens are raining
potatoes upon him, an imagination
which could hardly have been delight
full unless the potatoes retained their
original small size 1t was as late
it was after the Cromwellian epis-
ode before the potato got any fair
hold in English soil
Gilbert White, writing in 177S, says
that potatoes had prevailed in his dis
trict for about twenty years; and that
this had been brought about "only
by means Of premiums" but that po-
tatoes were then much esteemed by
the poorer people, who would scarce
ly have ventured to taste them in the
previous reign. Another writer speaks
of them as rather questionable
product-possibly 20 become human
food, although rather flatulent and
acid fol the human stomach" He
recommends i;oil:ag them with Gates
and thinks that such a combination
would keep soul and body together,
for those who are too poor to get
anything better. It is probable that
the storage of this esculent was very
little understood, and so, being left
in The light after digging they be-
come continuously less and less suit
able for food.
The story Of the Introduction of the
The country people were so convinced
Of the poisonous nature Of the tuber
that they would not give it trial.
It's friends were actually mobbed for
trying to introduce food that would
poison the people. The story goes in
two ways. One of these tells us that
Kings Louis XIV. wore potato BIOS
SONS in his buttonhole, and had po-
tatoes on his royal table, until they
became popular with the aristocratic
classes. Another story recounts how
celebrated physician and philan-
tEropist planted a field Of potatoes, |
about which he placed a guard, with
instructions to allow just as much |
thieving as possible. The poorer peo-
pie, believing a vegetable that de- [
served such watcbfll care must be OF
great value, stole nearly the whole OF
them. In this way their prejudices |
were overcome and valuable esru-
lent added to their dietary.-The In
dependent.
The Cuban situation, is only what |