POTATOES

POTATOES, of the order solanacee. See BOTANY. It seems to be the prevalent opinion that potatoes were first introduced into Europe from America, by Sir Walter Raleigh, about 1586. Gerard, an old English botanist, mentions that he had reared seedlings of the potatoe in 1590, and that it grew as well in his garden as in its native soil, Virginia. Gerard gave to the potatoe the botanical name of solanum tuberosum,—a name adopted by Linnaeus, and which it still retains. Previously to 1684, its cultivation in England was confined to the gardens of a few of the nobility and gentry. It was then first planted in the open fields in Lancashire, a county in which it is now very extensively cultivated. In an account of the household expenses of Queen Anne, wife of James I., who died in 1618, and which is supposed to have been compiled in 1613, the price of potatoes is stated at 1s. a pound.

1 A cent, or hundredth part of a dollar, is about a halfpenny.

of the estimates on this point, the question has arisen, to what extent a corresponding increase of the post establishment must take place, both as regards the space in which the duties are to be performed, and the number of persons required for such performances.* The chief difficulty apprehended, is that which would be experienced in the dispatch of the mails from London, and other large offices, under the circumstances of the closeness of the hour of receipt to that of dispatch, to which the public are accustomed, and the great proportion of letters that are put in at the very latest hour.† On these points, the officers of the post-office, who can alone, or who can best form an opinion, while they concur in stating that a large additional expense would certainly be incurred, profess not to be able to form, or, in point of fact, not to have formed, any definite idea of its extent. The sums put to this amount in the foregoing calculations, may be considered as stated in mere conjecture; nor is it very easy to offer anything on the subject further than to observe, that any saving of time or labour, in regard to the business of dispatch, effected by Mr. Hill's plan, applies only to the taxing; partly, if at all, to the examination, and to the telling up: the duty occupying the longest time, (that of sorting) together with the stamping, being increased in full proportion to the increase of letters.

Of the minor difficulties attending Mr. Hill's plan, that which regards the mode of collecting the postage on foreign letters, is the most considerable. Mr. Hill seems latterly to think, that, as regards these, it might be necessary to take payment on delivery. But it seems, by no means clear, that Mr. Hill's first suggestion on that point, (namely, that of charging twopence in advance outwards, and nothing inwards) is liable to any great objection peculiar to this part of his plan; the persons who send letters abroad, being generally the same who receive from abroad. The inconvenience of having letters above weight, returned (after opening) from the dead letter office, cannot be allowed to stand in the way of an extensive arrangement otherwise beneficial. If parties would neither be at the pains to weigh their letters, nor use a stamp of a penny higher price, when in doubt, they might very fairly be left to take the consequence.

But after considering all the defects and difficulties of Mr. Hill's plan, the question recurs, if we do not adopt it, what else is to be done? That a great reduction of postage must be made, seems to be universally admitted; but what other scheme of reduction has been proposed, or who is ready to propose one? If we are to reduce at all, there seems much reason to question, whether any reduction short of that proposed by Mr. Hill, will be to good purpose. The Committee have recommended a penny rate for distances not exceeding fifteen miles, and twopence for larger distances. But there are not wanting good grounds for maintaining that the penny rate might fetch a greater revenue than the twopenny one.

Speaking loosely, it may be reckoned that, at a uniform penny postage, a fourfold increase on the general post letters, and a threefold on the twopenny and threepenny, would more than cover the charges of management. That an increase to this extent would ensue, may be held for certain; that it would ensue to double or treble this extent is, if improbable, not beyond the bounds of possibility. So that, at the worst, perhaps, the utmost evil that would arise from the adoption of Mr. Hill's plan, would be the payment of a million and a-half of taxes in one way, instead of in another, while the vast advantage of a low rate of postage would be so much clear gain obtained. And this leads to a consideration of what, in a question of political economy, ought to be reckoned the proper measure of the advantage of Mr. Hill's plan. Suppose a person to pay L.1 a-year in postage, and L.5 in other taxes; suppose that in another year he pays only 5s. for postage, and L.5, 15s. in other taxes, it is evident that, ceteris paribus, matters will remain the same, both as regards the state and the individual, that is, if the number of letters which the individual gets conveyed remains the same. But if, on the latter supposition, he gets twenty-five letters conveyed, while on the former he only got twenty, the conveyance of the five letters additional is a clear advantage gained. The true measure then of the benefits of Mr. Hill's plan, is not the amount of surplus revenue it creates, as relative to the present, but the number of letters conveyed, on that plan, as relative to the expense of conveyance. If Mr. Hill, by adding twenty-five per cent. to the cost of conveyance, can add 100 per cent. to the number of letters conveyed, this is clear benefit. And as there can be no real advantage from the adoption of his plan that does not resolve into this principle, so (speaking on the abstract) any alleged disadvantage, not resolving into the same principle, may be regarded as only apparent.

Potentia
Potosi. Potatoes were not introduced into Ireland until 1610, when a small parcel was sent by Sir Walter Raleigh to be planted on his estate in the vicinity of Youghall. There is no other instance of the cultivation of an exotic having been so rapidly extended in so short a period as has elapsed since potatoes were introduced into Ireland.

Potatoes were not raised in Scotland, except in gardens, till 1728, when they were planted in the open fields by Thomas Prentice, day-labourer at Kilsyth. Prentice died at Edinburgh so late as 1792.

It has been estimated that one acre of land will produce three times, or at least twice, as much food when growing potatoes, as when employed in the culture of wheat; consequently, where the inhabitants live upon potatoes, the population will be twice or thrice as dense as where they are fed entirely on corn. While, however, the use of the potato as a principal article of food renders population comparatively dense, it tends also to render the people habitually poor, and to multiply the chances of famine. For the cultivation of the potato see AGRICULTURE. For the political views see McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, and his notes to Smith's Wealth of Nations.