EXPERIMENTS WITH CHILIAN SEED-POTATOES. 27 



These enquiries and experiments, besides being 

 interesting in many ways, have enabled us to 

 establish two facts : 1st — That in one at least of the 

 native countries of the potato, Chile, the disease has 

 never been known, and potatoes are there quite 

 healthy. 2nd — That these healthy potatoes, when 

 grown in this country, are not disease-proof. If, 

 therefore, we have not discovered what will prevent 

 the disease, we have at least discovered what will 

 not prevent it. 



Apart from these exx^eriments, I may remark 

 that the future of the potato crop is at present 

 more hopeful than it has been at any time since 

 1845, and growers are not now working in the dark. 

 Many new varieties have been raised from the seed 

 in the "plum," and some of these are only very 

 slightly affected by disease. Mr. Latta tells me he 

 loses very few potatoes, as he plants only good 

 sorts ; and another farmer, who this year had lost 

 by his "Victorias" and "Regents," said to me that 

 he did not intend to plant any more of these varie- 

 ties. If only good sorts were planted, and the best 

 methods of cultivation and storing adopted, I think 

 it is not too much to hope that we may yet reduce 

 the potato-disease to a botanical curiosity. 



