The Origin of the Potato

Abstract

IT is a curious fact that the origin of the potato of commerce, Solanum tuberosum, that is, the wild species from whence it was derived by selective cultivation, has hitherto baffled research, none of the many wild species of that genus agreeing sufficiently closely in character to be identified with any of the innumerable varieties existing. This in itself might have been of little importance had not the outbreak of the potato disease in the last century suggested the wisdom of finding the original wild species, and by crossing it with the cultivated forms, of infusing fresh vigour into the latter, and thus to some extent fortify them against that destructive plague. To this end Mr. A. W. Sutton, of Reading, collected as many of the wild species as he could from the native habitats in Chili and Peru, and also from outside sources in North America and elsewhere, but none of these could be accepted as the parental form of the. potato of commerce, and though many experiments were made in the way of hybridisation, the results were entirely-negative so far as obtaining an improved strain was concerned, and the trials consequently ceased.