Danny Barnette, age 8, of Gastonia, N. C.,
Where did Irish potatoes come from?
French pastr1es may be made in the bakery downtown and Mother can bake a Boston cream pie right in her own kitchen. An English elm tree may feel quite at home in your favorite park and you may catch German measles from one of your American playmates. What’s more, your Dutch Uncle may never have been to Holland in his life, We are not surprised to learn that Irish potatoes grow here in America, In fact, the potato plant got its start in the New World, long before Columbus sailed over the sea.
Our farmers grow about a thousand different kinds of potato. Some are good for boiling, some are good for baking and some make excellent food for the farm animals. The different kinds have different names but a lot of people call the ordinary white potato the Irish potato. It is not at all related to the honey‑yellow sweet potato.
The story of the white Irish potato began in South America hundreds of years ago. The Incas of Peru were great farmers and their crops flourished all along the western coast. One of their most important crops was corn. But the higher slopes of the Andes mountains were too cool for corn to grow. Here the Incas grew potatoes ‑ ordinary white potatoes.
About 450 years ago, Spanish explorers found potatoes growing on the high slopes of Peru, Columbia and Bolivia. Later, potatoes became world travelers, for they were taken from country to country. The Spanish explorers sent some samples home to Spain. Some were taken to France, England, Ireland and other countries in Europe. At first, many people were shy about trying the new vegetable, but they soon came to realize its true value.
In 1613, a ship brought potatoes from England to Virginia, The potato, which started in South America, reached North America after a journey through Europe. Meantime the Irish had become great potato growers, for it thrived and flourished in their cool climate. It grew better than other crops and the Irish came to depend upon it: When the Irish traveled, it seems, they took potatoes with them. In the year 1719, some Irish settlers arrived to make their homes in Londonderry, New Hampshire ‑ and with them they brought some of their white potatoes. People called them Irish potatoes because the Irish brought them from Ireland.
Meantime, the people in Ireland depended more and more on their potato crops and for many years all went well. Then, in 1645, the entire crop was struck by a blight and destroyed. Ireland faced famine and many people starved. others left their homeland to settle in America and help build our country.