NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 167 



"Juan de Dios Maraboli describes the mode of cultivation 

 practised by the large growers for the Valparaiso and northern 

 markets : — ' I was born in the province of Talca, where my father 

 was a tenant farmer. I used to work on the farm till I was 18 years 

 old, when I came to the north. When a field is to be planted with 

 potatoes it is ploughed as soon as the previous crop of wheat or 

 barley has been cut. The stubble is left long, and this ploughed 

 in is the manure for the potatoes. By the time the rainy season is 

 over — in September or October — the stubble has decayed and the 

 ground is again ploughed, in some cases as often as five times, and 

 harrowed well each time. The rainy season extends from April to 

 September, that is from the autumnal to the vernal equinox. In 

 November it is drilled. The distance between the drills is one step 

 (about 33 inches), and they are made as deep as possible (about 16 

 inches). The potatoes are planted whole, a short step apart (about 

 two feet), by a man carrying a basket on his shoulder. He walks 

 erect and quickly, drops a seed each step, and presses it into the 

 ground with his naked foot. If when he puts his hand into the 

 basket he gets a small one, he takes two seeds and plants them 

 together ; if very small he puts in three. The largest potatoes are 

 not planted, but middle-sized and small ones. The seed is covered 

 by splitting the drills, and then the field is harrowed flat, and 

 and remains so till the potatoes are dug. As the rainy season is 

 now past few weeds grow, and they are soon smothered with the 

 shaws, but sometimes they are cut down with hoes. If the land 

 can be irrigated it is watered once or twice in January or February, 

 after the shaws are well up, the leaves of which are not wetted. 

 The crop is ripe in April, and is dug after the first rain, never before, 

 one reason being that the ground is so hard the potatoes cannot be 

 got out easily till it rains. After the potatoes have been dug they 

 are spread on a high piece of ground, and repeatedly turned till they 

 are quite dry. They are then piled in long heaps and covered with 

 rushes. Sometimes dried rushes are put under them, but not 

 always. The piles or pits are made up in the early morning, when 

 the potatoes are cold, as well as dry, never in the afternoon, when 

 they are warm with the sun. Trenches are dug round the heaps to 

 take away the water, and the potatoes keep dry and good all winter. 

 On some estates they are all taken into sheds with thatch roofs, and 

 laid on wooden shelves. They keep good both ways.' 



"Felipe Diaz was also born and bred in Talca. His statement 



