The potato (Lycopersicum esculentum) is a member of that great family, the Solanaceae. It has a lot to answer for since Sir Walter Ralegh introduced it to Britain several hundreds of years ago during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It comes naturally from Peru, where scores of varieties of potato are still grown. It has come a long way since those early days. Breeding has resulted in many very fine varieties developed for the world’s growing demand for the ‘spud.’ Chefs have devised many different ways of presenting the potato, and while rice is still the staple of Asia it is the potato which holds sway in Europe, and especially in the British Isles. In fact the combination of fish and (potato) chips is still the favourite by far, and accounts for marked increases in the girth of the British.
One of the greatest migrations in world history was a direct result of the Irish potato famine, when hundreds of thousands of men, women and children perished because the potato crops on which they depended utterly failed because of a massive infection by Potato blight. As a result the United States benefited from the mass exodus of Irish people. Their journeys to the USA were horrific as often more than half the passengers starved to death. This solitary example is a clear indication of how dangerous it is to become dependant on one crop. With the Irish the potato was the main food crop. In Guyana our main source of income is sugar, but we are not dependent on it for food. The Irish had nothing as a back-up, whereas we have an abundance of riches.
Now I started off talking about the great botanical family called the Solanaceae. Many members originated in South America and are of great economic importance. I’ve mentioned the potato, which is I suppose responsible for a great deal of weight increase now. Far more sinister in its effect is its very near relative, tobacco. I have often observed that there is nothing quite so silly as grown men and women stuffing handfuls of leaves into their mouths and setting fire to them. I haven’t smoked cigarettes for 35 years but am reminded that the sword of Damocles still hangs over my head. When I was last in England I was alarmed to see just how many youngsters were walking around with cigarettes in their mouths. This in spite of them being banned from nearly all restaurants and pubs, and in spite of severe warnings about the damage they can do to your lungs. The tobacco industry makes ever larger profits, and governments collect ever larger taxes as a consequence.
The more agreeable members of this huge family of plants include the tomato (many hundreds of varieties), the sweet peppers (delightful additions to a stir fry) the hot peppers (favourites of the Guyanese and to be handled with great caution), and those fragrant Nicotianas grown for their ornamental value and having a gorgeous perfume. Being South American all will grow quite comfortably in our climate, including the delightfully named Lady-of-the-night (Brunfelsia americana) which is a native of the West Indies and easily propagated from cuttings. The Chalice vine (Solandra nitida) also belongs to this family and is getting quite widespread in Guyana, due, I suspect to it being fairly easy to grow from cuttings. One of my particular favourites is the Marmalade bush (Streptosolen jamesonii) which comes from Colombia and Ecuador. It grows extremely well in Europe and in some of the islands, but is rare enough in Guyana. Grown from cuttings, if you get a chance to get hold of it then have a go.
As a footnote to this week’s column I perhaps should mention one of the benefits derived from nicotine. About 30 years ago shredded nicotine leaves were marketed commercially as a control for insects. It was highly dangerous (far more so than any of the modern insecticides based on organo-phosphates), and was quickly banned in spite of being one of the most effective products on the market. The method of application involved placing heaps of the shreds into plant pots in glasshouses, setting fire to them and then running like hell to safety, making sure that nobody entered the glasshouses the following morning. A very dangerous business, believe me. Meanwhile take great care with the chemicals and may your God go with you.