Potatoes v. Asparagus

Loomed in Finland last week a rival to asparagus-loving Ambassador Walter Evans Edge who has the succulent stalks in which he delights shipped regularly to the U. S. Embassy in Paris from New Jersey asparagus beds (TIME, May 25).

From the U. S. Legation at Helsingfors loyal Matilda Weidemeyer Gantt despatched recently to TIME an autographed picture of her chief (see cut), plus the following comment:

"Edward Everett Brodie, the American Minister to Finland, imports all his Irish potatoes from Idaho.

"In Finland there has never been seen anything like those potatoes. They come in boxes, each potato wrapped separately in tissue paper, fifties and seventies, ac cording to size, fifties being the larger.

"Although they make the long journey from the far west to the far north over icy seas not one of them has ever been damaged or the least frost bitten. The packing is done with such infinite care that they arrive in perfect condition.

"The first unpacking was a great event in the Minister's home and the potatoes a curiosity to the servants.

"Any one of the fifties is large enough to serve three persons.

"When Minister Brodie wants to give his Finnish friends a real treat, he sends them several of his huge American pota toes, and the gift is more appreciated than would be a basket of American beauty roses or the rarest of orchids. Accompany ing the gift is always a receipt showing how to prepare the potatoes for the table.

"The Minister is most generous with them as his sympathy goes out to the per son who has never tasted the lusciousness of an American baked potato split through the center while it is steaming hot and filled with a huge piece of fresh, sweet butter.

"Minister Brodie says: 'I can do with out an American egg nog and a fragrant mint julip, but do without Idaho baked potatoes -- NEVER, no NEVER.' "

Nearly all U.S. diplomats import U. S. cigarets, get them tax free and duty free, pay less for standard 15-c- brands in Berlin or Bangkok than in the U. S. where each package is taxed 6-c-.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.