46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



it is attacked by fungi and parasitical insects, their presence not 

 being the cause of the disease, but a consequence. 



This, I believe, is the generally-received theory regarding the 

 potato disease, and it seems a very reasonable one. But I am 

 not aware that what I am about to say has yet been received as 

 reasonable. I hold that we cannot cure the potato disease, but 

 that we may prevent it; and, in order to do so, I would import 

 annually wild tubers from the Andes. These I would go on 

 improving until I had produced varieties fit for profitable culti- 

 vation. The farmer should then take them, and use them. in the 

 way that would pay him best. They would keep sound for many 

 years; but whenever he saw signs of failure, let him cease to 

 propagate the enfeebled plants and fall back on a later im- 

 portation. As the Andes are far away, perhaps it Avould be 

 advisable to acclimatise the wild plant on the hills of Italy and 

 Spain, where they could be got at more easily. I know that 

 potatos imported from South America to this country have failed, 

 but what I do not know is the history of those potatos before 

 they were imported. I should mention, in conclusion, that the 

 Chilenos always plant their potatos whole. 



Lapageria rosea (R. and P.) — This beautiful climber, which is 

 now exhibited at almost every flower-show, grows wild amongst 

 "Boldo" bushes in the neighbourhood of Concepgion, lat. 36° S. 

 It is named in honour of Josephine Lapagerie, wife of Napoleon I., 

 but I much prefer its euphonious Indian name " Copigue." 



Oxalis. — Of this genus we have in Scotland only one species — 

 the wood sorrel; but in Chile there are 57 species, some of which are 

 now cultivated in this country; but I do not think that the " Churco" 

 (0. gig antea J, the largest Oxalis in the world, has yet been introduced. 

 It grows in great patches in the desert of Atacama, and attains a 

 height of from three to five feet. The flowers are yellow, and 

 about the size of a buttercup; the leaves are trifoliate, and have 

 the ordinary acid taste. It flowers with one shower a year, but if 

 there happens to be no rain it does not blossom. The inhabitants 

 of the district in which it grows make use of it in housebuilding. 

 First they put up a frame-work of wood, next fill all the open 

 spaces with " Churco," and then plaster all over with clay. It is 

 said that rats will not eat through this wall, doubtless because they 

 dislike the taste of " Churco." 



I must mention one other species of this genus — 0. lobata, " Flor 



