Up to 1640 it was called in England the
potato of Virginia, to distinguish it from the sweet potato, which is
another evidence that it derived the name potato from _batatas_.[2] The
latter root was extensively cultivated for food in parts of America, but
it never got into anything like general cultivation here, perhaps
because our climate was too cold for it. It is now only found in our
hot-houses, where it produces tubers from one to two pounds in weight.
It has been asserted that Sir John Hawkins brought the potato to Ireland
in 1565, and his kinsman Sir Francis Drake to England in 1585. Although
this is not improbable, writers generally assume that it was the sweet
potato which was introduced by those navigators.
Whether or not Raleigh's third expedition, which sailed from England in
1584, was the _first_ to bring into these countries the potato of
Virginia, there can be no reasonable doubt of its having been brought
home by that expedition. The story of Raleigh having stopped on some
part of the Irish coast on his way from Virginia, when he distributed
potatoes to the natives, is quite groundless. Raleigh was never in
Virginia; for although by his money and influence, and perhaps yet more
by his untiring energy, he organized nine exploring expeditions, he did
not sail with any of them except the first, which was commanded by his
half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert.
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