It was a century after this before the sterling qualities of the potato were appreciated fully, but now that useful tuber is adopted as Ireland’s own darling vegetable.
Sir Walter Raleigh was quite a gardener, as well as having a reputation as a soldier, an author, a courtier, an explorer, a statesman, and a lover. In some respects he was the Theodore Roosevelt of his age. Doubtless he inherited his genius for gardening from his first parent, Adam. He brought the seed of the cherry from the Azores, and planted the first cherry tree in this famous garden, as it is said all the cherries in the United Kingdom can trace their descent back to Youghal.
We were now only thirty miles from Cork. As we left Youghal, and the landing place of the potato in Ireland, the heavy clouds suddenly made up their minds to decamp. They at once scattered in all directions, and in fifteen minutes the sun was shining just as though it had been with us all morning. Then it was that it occurred to us that the sudden changes of Irish weather were not always a disadvantage. If it rains easy, it also clears away easy.
I was glad to see the fields of Cork again. We followed the railroad line most of the way from Youghal to Cork. We met a train again on this road, and had another noisy greeting from the engine and passenger coaches.
As we neared Cork, and saw the magnificent Cork Harbor, stretching down to Queenstown, I turned to Mike and said:
“Mike, Ireland is a great country, and you and I have seen it the last few days as nobody has ever seen it before. The aeroplane will give to Ireland a new fame throughout the world.”
“We have had a big time,” said Mike simply, but I knew he was the happiest man on earth, or rather in the air.
As we were circling around preparatory to making a landing, I repeated enthusiastically the words of an Irish poet:
“O Ireland, isn’t it grand you look:
Like a bride in her rich adornin’