Frederick II of Prussia issued a series of orders to make his subjects grow potatoes. Fifteen are known, and the first dates from 1746. The circular to Silesia of 24 March 1756 did not simply command. It told officials to make landowners and peasants understand the benefit of the new crop. The popular stories that follow are legend, not documented fact. In one, the peasants cooked the seeds or the plants instead of the tubers and then refused to grow them. In another, the king had potatoes grown under guard, as if they were valuable. When peasants stole the seed potatoes at night, the guards had orders to look away.