OJ* NATURALIZING TENDER PLANTS. 11 



be enabled to fabricate wines of quality suffi- 

 ciently good to compete with those of foreign 

 growth. 



A more important object is the perfect natur- 

 alization of the Potato, an effect as yet but very 

 partially obtained, notwithstanding the length 

 of time during which this valuable root has been 

 a subject of cultivation. It is certain, that this 

 imperfect naturalization has been the result of 

 the common practice of propagating by the tu- 

 bers, to the almost total neglect of the seeds; 

 It is true, that seeds have been occasionally 

 sown, and new varieties thus produced ; but the 

 experiment has stopped in the first stage, having 

 been always undertaken for the mere purpose 

 of producing these varieties, without any re- 

 gard to that much more important object, the 

 production of a plant sufficiently hardy to bear 

 at least the first frosts of winter. In the south- 

 ern parts of our island, it is not a desideratum of 

 much importance, as the tubers are in general ful- 

 ly formed before the plant is killed by frost ; but 

 in the northern parts it is an object of great conse- 

 quence, the plant being frequently killed long 

 before the roots have attained maturity. In the 

 Highlands of Scotland, in particular, where a 

 frost will frequently occur early in September, 

 the crop is often prematurely destroyed, and the 

 uses of this vegetable are in consequence mater- 

 nally limited. It is plain, that it would be ne- 



