Scrub 
In middle Chile there are thorny acacias in many 
spiny forms, gummy-leaved plants in abundance, 
beautiful Alstroemerias and other bulbs, even Cereus’ 
and strongly fragrant perennials, which show distinctly 
that the flora is again a typical scrub. But here again 
there has been much disturbance by man and his 
attendant domestic animals, which have grazed and 
destroyed for at least five hundred years. 
In a general way, whatever plants grow in one of 
these districts can surely be made to flourish in any 
oneorall of them. Butthe average Dutch Boer, Hotten- 
tot boy, Chilian peon, French or Italian peasant, and 
Australian do not show very much resemblance in 
character and are not content with similar wages, so 
that the question of what can be made to grow with 
profit is a very difficult one. 
But for the patriotic South African or Australian 
the past history of Greece, Rome, and Spain is en- 
couraging enough. The present state of those countries 
is perhaps not so promising, but their flourishing 
periods were those when unintelligent man had not 
succeeded in destroying the forests and the vegetation, 
and it is from the vegetation of those long past eras 
that the most promising hints should be obtained. 
1 Schimper. 2 Willkomm. 3 Desjardins, 4 White, 
5 Prout and Hood. © Detto. 7 Heller. 
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