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Waka Maori, Volume 11, Issue 10, 25 May 1875, Page 115

How the French were Made to Eat Potatoes. M Noel, a French agriculturist, says:—"This vegetable was viewed by the people with extremedisfavour when first introduced, and many expedients were adopted to induce them to use it, but without success. In vain did Louis XVI. (1774) wear its flower in his "button-hole, and in vain were samples of the tubercle distributed among the farmers ; they gave them to their pigs, but would not use it themselves. At last, Parmentier, the chemist, who well knew the nutritive properties of the potatoe, andwasmost anxious to see it in general use, hit upon the following ingenious plan:—He planted a good breadth of potatoes at Sablons, close to Paris, and paid great attention to their cultivation. "When the roots were nearly ripe, he put notices round the field that all persons who stole any of the potatoes would be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law, and several gendarmes were employed to watch the field day and night, and arrest all trespassers. No sooner were the new roots thus forbidden, as it were by authority, than all persons seemed eager to eat them, and in a fortnight, notwithstanding the gendarmes, the whole crop was stolen, and without doubt, eaten. The new vegetable having been found to be excellent food, was soon after cultivated in every part of the kingdom." The Fijian papers say that the Natives there (likethe Maoris) persist in rushing to the nearest pool or river, and plunging therein while sick with the measles. This accounts for the death of so many of them. The measles is a comparatively harmless

disease among Europeans, because they are careful not to expose themselves to cold when suffering from it. . & A West Coast paper states:—" Blue gum trees are found to exert a purifying influence in malarious districts, but it would appear that the virtues of this valuable agent are still far from being fully known. It is said that gum leaves placed in mattresses with the ordinary stuffing, operate as a powerful disinfectant, and tend greatly to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases, particularly among children. The experiment, we are credibly informed, has been tried successfully in preventing the contagious effects of measles."