Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-01-29
HISTORY OF POTATOES.
A Mash of Facts, Fancies and Anec.
dctes About the Tubers.

ccSeS ABOUT the uberS.
II was st. Nova whom st. Patrick,
"out of mis- own head" taught how TO
boil potato; "a sad thing, and 10 be
lanlented. that the secret has come
down to so few" The first named
saint left 10 receipt as legacy. says Il
writer in THE London Express" This
seems Il pity. fer. according to Sydney
Smith, III = letter to Arthur Kinglaka,
written in 1897. frequently il is that
those persons whom God hath Joined
together in lnatri,nony i'll cooiled joints
and hoGly b"iitd potatoes nave pat
asund.r.''
There are several hundred ways Of
cooking potatnt :. and. as kiplire says
OF the making Of tribal laws. EVERY
one al thcn is right" An Ingenious
and Inventive modern cook has evcn
made miniature motor cars, baskets,
hats ana such like fancy gear of rib
bon potatoes. But this was as the
barber said Of the wig. only large en-
ough t" fit hazlenut, in a moment CT
enthusiasm" The oldest fashioned, the
suundest ami most legitimate way is
and remains plain boiling, although
doctors tell us that z roasted potato
takes two hours to digest, whereas Il
boiled ore takes three hours and a half
1t is OH record that the Queen of
James I. in 1913, paid two ShIlings OF
the money Of the time for u pound
of potatoes: this would be equivalent
to nearly Il sovereign nowadays. This
price is. however. easily outdone by the
value set upon 4 new and particularly
prolific sort for short while after its
discovery Or invention. Thus, the
famous ljldrrado was sold in 1904 for
cleo pound. and the Hon. II. \.
Stanhope, president of the Agricul-
tUral and horticultural Association,
states that the produce of one small
potato of the Northern Star Was found
to number 1l6 potatoes, weighing 20 IL
pounds. while from a single shoot, or
chit" removed from an Eldorado, and
stuck in 4 plant pot. thirty-siX pota-
toes. Weighing IL pounds, were
grown.
1t is estimated that in the British
isles 6,WD0,00 tons of potatoes are pro-
duced annually on about 600,0G0 acres,
giving an average of ten tons to the
acre, but very large quantity of
potatoes comes from abroad, so that our
than these figures wond indicate.
There are a great many sunerstitions
connected with the potato, many Of
them absurd but persistent, as all
approximations are. In Suffolk certain
folk, before undertaking any new
scheme. dig up a potato, and looking
at it carefully. try to find a resem-
Dlance III its outward appearance to the
face Of some one concerned in the
scheme. If such q likeness is even
vaguely possible, it is q good omen of
success. Again, the carrying Of hard,
| uncOOked potato in the trousers pocket
in the case OF a man. or in the dress.
in the case OF woman. is often sup
posed To etave off rheumatism. Doc
tors suggest that this may, in meas
IRE, be due to the presence Of Il Ger
tain ;lEount of sulphur in the tuber.
In former times women's dresses were
| often made with special potato
pocket" as a charm against the disease.
In some parts of Germany potatoes,
burned in the cinderS, are StTeWn over
corilfielGs, with 4 view to keeping away
the blight.
The late George Gissing, in his "Pri-
vatc Papers of Henry Ryecrof;," has All
eloquent tribute to the potato. Think
Of the said new potatoes. Our cook.
when dressing them, puts into the
saucepan a Sprig of green mint. This
is genius, Not otherwise could the
flavor OF the vegetable be So perfectly
yet So deiicatoly emphasized. The
mint is there, ana we know it, yet our
palate knows only the young potato"
When FalStatf. in The Merry Wives
of Windsor, CxClainlS. Let the sky
rain potatoes" he does not refer to our
| hoInely vegetable. but to sweet pota-
! toes (ratate',) very different sort of
! thing. but common in England before
| Sir Walter Raleigh Introduced the
''Nireinian potatoes into County Cork
| ireland. about 1854.
The Merry Wives was published in
| 1902. but our potato IF today was not
| popular or appreciated for many a long
year afterward. As late rs 1913 Brady
wrote that potatoes are less note than
horscradish, radish scorzonero, beets
! and Skrret." Another old writer SAYS
| that they are not so good and whole
| some as Jerusalem artchOkes. but
may prove good to swine" Even Did