The New Student's Reference Work/Potato

Pota′to, the tubers of Solanum tuberosum, a genus of the nightshade family, which contains about 900 species, distributed almost everywhere, but most abundant in tropical America. Only about 25 species are found in North America. The potato, from which numerous cultivated varieties have originated, came from Chile, and is native in the mountains as far north as southern Colorado. The importance of these tubers as an article of food is well-known. It is sometimes called Irish or white potato, to distinguish it from the sweet potato, which belongs to a totally different plant. The cultivated varieties of potatoes are exceedingly numerous, and additions to the list are being made yearly. That this tuber is a modified stem is apparent from the so-called “eyes,” which are buds appearing in the axils of minute scales. As is well-known, these buds are able to develop into new plants, so that in planting the tubers care is taken in cutting them to include one or more eyes. In 1910 the acreage of potato-raising in the United States was 3,591,000 acres, and the value of the year's crop was estimated at $187,985,000. The total number of bushels in the gross yield was 338,811,000.