The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-07
information Impaired to The
Stroller About Native
Product of Chile.
REAL IRISH SPUD CAME
FROM SOUTH AMERICA
Utah Does Not Produce as
Many Tubers as She Did
Seven Years Ago.


their way yesterday afternoon, stop
ping occasionally 10 look and comment
upon the display of fruits and vegeta-
blcs shown on the stands of the green
grocers Soma exceptionally fine pota-
toes attracted astention, and The Stroll
er's friend remarked 'Fine spuds
those. are they not7 Look good enough
almost 10 eat them raw. BY the way,
be continued, ''Utah has raised more
potatoes 10 the acre than was ever
grown anywhere else in the world.
Yes vou were hero Mt the time. ~
was IN the early nineties. Uncle sam.
YOU remember. offered premium for
the largest production of potatoes
grown on an acre of ground and
Davis county farmer captured the
prize Only 793 bushels. Fine? Well,
/ should say-great, mealy boys. Sou
know Nhai they were. because l sent
sack of them TO your house Mt the
time. and YOU wrote a story about them.
But is zoo hot to talk here. Lets
find o cool spot Yes, where King Gam
brinus holds sway will be all right.
and there over q stein of his beverage
we can talk about potatoes.
The place suggested was soon found.
and then when the foaming stein was
placed upon the table by the white,
aproned employee. The Stroller's friend
continued: "Queer thing this vegeta,
BILE is that we call potato. This root
crop. or rather tuber, furnishes one
eighth of the total food crop of the
United States; in other words, rs per
cent. II belongs 10 the stsrchy group.
and is the most important Of all Nege
tables grown. both i'll its nutrltlve val
ne. as also the extent of its cultivation.
Probably three hundred million bushels
will be grown in the United States this
year,
Some Figures Are Given.
'eThe latest figures We have regard
ing the potato are contained IN the
census report pertaining to agriculture
in 1900 That year there were 2.93S,-
Y52 acres in potatoes. The yield was
o73 32S. .207 bushels, valued Mt $9s,
3S7.6l4, an average of 90 bushels per
scre, and worth $33.48. 10 that year
there were l3 counties in the United
States which cultivated over $4,000
acres in each. One of these was in
Maine, four in New York, three in
Wisconsin. three in Michigan, one in
Colorado anG one in Illinois, and IN
the last named-the county Of Cook-in
which the second city in the United
States is located.
Is Native of Chile,
"Now let me remark here that the
potato known as the Irish potato and
believed by majority of people to be
native product of Ireland. IS not
frnm that country, but is a native of
Chile. Ii was first introduced into Eu
rore between 1880 and 1885 by the
Spaniards, and afterwards by the Eng
1ish abon* the time Of the expeditions
sent By Raleigh TO the Virginia coun~
try A similar tuber. known as the
Cetewayo potato, is also eaten by the
natives in some districts OF South
Africa. When first visited by Euro
peans, the aborigines in Chile and ad-
iaceut regions cultivated the potato for
Its edible tubers and had apparently
long done So It WIS probably intro
duced into the United States, espc-
cially into Virginia and North Caro-
lima, toward the end of the sixteenth
century. In spite of its easy c9lava-
;ion, rich yield. and pleasant flavor,
the potato did not receive warm vel
come when first introduced into Europe.
Once Garden Curiosity.
''For long time there was q popular
belief that it was poisonous, perhaps
because botanically it is related to the
deadly nightshade, and for years 1t was
cultivated mainly as a garden curiosity,
During the second half of the eight
eenth century, however, came series
of bad harvests in some of the staple
potato quickly rose into almost uni
versal prominence. Since then its use
has constantly increased, for it is one
of the cheapest vegetables to raise,
can be kept over the winter, is easy
TO prepare for the table, pleasant In
taste, and very rich in digestible
starch, It soon became a staple food
among all classes throughout Central
and Northern Europe, so that when in
the middle of the last century the black
rot wrought it's deadly havoc on the
crops, not only Ireland but large dis.
tricts in continental Europe also were
seriously threatened with famine.
"The per capita production Of pots-
toes Is three and one-half bushels, but
the Southern people do not eat the tu-
Der like the people of the North do,
hence the annual per capita cousump-
tion is four and a half bushels; this
of course is exclusive of potatoes kept
for seed or used in starch factories
Potatoes on Dry Farms.
''Of course, on irrigated lands like
we have in the arid region the produc-
tion pei, acre is larger than in the non
irrigated sections. However, dry farm
ing, is proving to be good for potatoes
Fisher Harris, secretary of the Com
mercIa] Climb. as you know is also presi.
dent of the. Dry Farming. Congress- He
has been having a series OF expert
mentS mace In raising potatoes on dry
lands and with fruitful results, for Just
prior to his leaving for trip to his
old home in Virginia and incidentally
10 visit the jamestown Exhibition, he
told one in confidence of discovery
made by one Of his men who are en-
gagged in dry farming-a discovery of
great Importance, This farmer found
that. by planting onions and potatoes
in the same field in alternate rows the
onions, being 80 strong, bring tears to
the eyes Of the potatoes in such vol
nmes that the roots Of the vines are
kept moist and big crop is raised in
spite of the drought. OF course, this
statement may not be literally true,
and 1T must be taken with several
grains Of allowance
Utah Falling OF.