THE POTATO.

Bruce Herald, Volume VI, Issue 400, 3 January 1872, Page 7

THE POTATO.

-It is popularly believed that we are in'dehted to Sir Waller Raleigh for this most important; of esculent vegetable foods, the cultivation of which extends over a wider «rea than any other food plant ; indeed, so universally is it diffused over the habitable :p-lobe, that it is found in almost every to ' ■ . . .•' where man can subsist : even in the Arctic regions it. struggles for existence, producing stunted watery tubers in an imperfect state of development., wiiilst it flourishes in tropical as well as temperate -climates, so easily does it adapt itself to ■circumstances. It ranks amon»st the most useful of -vegetable productions ; it is rhighly prolific, and its value, which is in•calcufable, is hardly understood to its fullest extent. The whole family of the ■Solanacece is suspicious- — great numbers •are narcotic, and many of them pois.onou> ; though in the case of Solanium nig rum ((one of the potato family), the young and tender shoots, when cooker), are u-ed as n •vegetable in some countries. It is curious to note that the poisonous hitter swee f , the tobacco plant, the tomato, the Cape gooseberry, the capsicum, the deadly nightshade; =and the beabane, the thorn apple, mandrake, and petunia, all Mong to the same genus as the potato ; which most excellent vegetable was at first regarded with the eye of indifference by our forefathers, unlit it was imported, by Sir Walter Raleigh, in the seventeenth century, who endeavored to attract attention to it, and cultivated it ihimself on his estates in Ireland. So, although not actually the first to introduce it, he was, nevertheless, the means of first bringing 1 it into public notice. He ■could not, of. course, have been acquainted with one half of its useful properties, and little did he dream that in after years it would radically revolutionise the diet of the country where it wits first cultivated. It was known by the Indian name of the sweet potato, " Batatas," and under this aame it continued to be spoken of and written about for some time after its intro •duct-ion. We read that it was supposed that it would l*e found useful tor feeding"'swine, and oilier cattle." The scientific analysis of th<» potato is not within the province of (his paper, and it will be sufficient to say tbntit is rich in starch, rh^.t ifc does not contain as much gluten as our •cereals, and that it is wanting 1 in nitrogenous matter. It is, however, more nutritious than any other of our succulent vegetables. To derive the necessary nourishment from a diet almost exclusively, consisting of potatoes, the stomach requires a considerable bulk of this kind of food ; and it has been noticed that the Hindoo who lives on rice, the Negro who lives on plantain, and the Irishman who lives on potatoes, are all, more or less, "pot-bellied," the Irishman, however, not so much so as the others ; and this circumstance is attributable to their diet, which does not contain a sufficient proportion of gluten, and so necessitates the consumption of a large quantity of the food ; for potatoes are not Dearly so nutritious as whear, and the constant employment of them as a chief article of diet, is not favorable to the development of the physical powers; neither does it tend to enlarge the mental facuNes. In : fact. Professor Muelder, a celebrated ' Dutch; chemist, has said, that V* the potato is the cause of the physical and moral degeneration.of those nations who use it." Potatoes have been said to possess the advantage, of solidity, like bread, and to have the healthful properties of many fresh veger"ables, without their acidity. As an article of diet, when not used excl usi vely, they .are of untold value; so universal Las the use of them become, that they are alraosr an essential, aish at dinner, for who ever thinks of dining without ' potatoes ? We, have said that "the 'potato' is wanting in| mineral . ' substances ;" and it is curious to! note how, in Ireland, this deficiency is; finpplied by the water, which'" is' almostj . universally strongly impregnated with /mineral .matter. The use of potatoes is a ""j>»eventative against scurvy, if notan actual. ..cure for ir> Potatoes that have been exposed to the air and have become greeu, •re unwholesome ; and new potatoes, i.c , .ooripe ones, have much to do wirb the prevalence of cholera, and such likediseases during the summer months.—'-' Food Journal.'