HORTICULTURAL REPOSITORY. 



251 



Bortalis of the North Seas, the little mermaid, as the 

 ;>eople along shore call it, enlivens our waters once 

 in perhaps a dozen or fifteen years with its countless 

 numbers. 



The Wild Tuberous Potato, or Solanum Tuberosum, 

 from Chili. 

 In the vegetable department, the introduction from 

 Chili of the tubers formed there by the native potato 

 plant, ha3 established certainty where somewhat of a 

 doubt remained before. It is now understood, that 

 in that region the Solanum tuberosum is wild and 

 grows spontaneously, producing small and inconsid- 

 erable knob* on the roots. I was much pleased on 

 the receipt of these productions from Dr. Finslar, of 

 the U. S. Navy. I planted some and distributed the 

 rest of them among my horticultural friends. The 

 oerms vegetated very well ; the stems were luxuriant 

 and vigorous, and produced flowers ; these laUer fell 

 off without producing u single berry or seed. Being 

 disappointed in obtaining increase from the balls, I 

 cherished the expectation of procuring the means of 

 propagation from the roots ; I nevertheless experien- 

 ced a second reverse, when 1 undertook to dig my 

 crop. There was not one tuber to be found 1 The 

 roots were stringy and fibrous, like those of ordinary 

 plants. The like destitution of tubers was observed 

 by all the gentlemen to whom distribution had been 

 made. Thus the experiment ended, by reason of a 

 total inability to conduct it further. I cannot forbear 

 to remark on this occasion, the wonderful power that 

 man possesses to change the nature and character of 

 vegetables. The poor little potato of the south has 

 been transformed into the rich and large article we 

 raise, by horticultural skill, in little more than two 

 centuries. Never, perhaps, was there a more com- 

 plete and admirable instance of the cultivator's tri- 

 umph over scanty and imperfect nature. Had we 

 been enabled to ripen the seeds so that we might 

 have planted them, it is possible that by a series of 

 plantings for a century and more, there might have 

 been potatoes obtained of commendable quantity and 

 quality. As the matter stands at present, all we have 

 discovered about it is, that the plant, believed to be 

 the parent of our cultivated round potato, is an indi- 

 genous product at this day, of South America. 

 The Wild Potato of Peru, or Witheringia Montana, 

 from Si. Lorenzo Islands. 

 Another tuberous root forwarded from the island of 

 St, Lorenzo, in the Pacific Ocean, off Peru, by Com- 

 modore Hull, excited also considerable expectation. 

 They were said to be esculent, and had been gather- 

 ed for the ship's use. I planted some of them, an. 

 made distribution of others. They grew \ery well, 

 and I caused delineations to be made of the stems, 

 blossoms and fibre»farnished tubers. I then suppo- 



called it accordingly the St. Lorenzo Potato, or So- 

 lanum Lavrentii. I promptly and respectfully sent 6 

 despatch to a celebrated society in Europe, whose 

 Secretary in a polite answer, informed me it was not 

 ascertained to be horticultural enough for insertion in 

 their transactions. From another society in thi9 

 country, I received no answer at all, and have no), 

 learned that the smallest notice had been taken of it. 

 Determined to keep the field in spite of these repul- 

 ses, I sent through one of my friends some of the 

 tubers to the distinguished Professor Hooker, of 

 Glasgow University. He planted them and witnessed 

 their growth and inflorescence. The result appeared 

 to hirn important enough for insertion in the BotanicaJ 

 Magazine. The description and history, with a co= 

 loured figure, have accordingly made their appear- 

 ance there. He considers that the species had been 

 observed and named by the Spanish botanists, as trre 

 Mountain Potato, or Solanum montaman, Still, in 

 pursuance of the botanical etiquette of multiplying 

 genera and increasing names, this plant has been lat- 

 terly termed Witheringia, on account of some differ- 

 ence in the stamens from the true Solanums. It is 

 now the Witheringia montana, and my denomination 

 of Solanum Laurentii, is retained as a synonyme. 

 Vain attempts to cidtivate the Jlracacha of Bogota. 

 The attempts to introduce and naturalize the Ara- 

 cacha Plant of Bogota and New Grenada, in Colum- 

 bia, have not that I know, been as yet attended with 

 any promising results. From the failure to propa- 

 gate it in maritime and northern regions, I despair of 

 obtaining any benefit from its abundant and nutritious 

 roots. The late Baron de Shack wrote me tha*. 

 although it vegeiated in Trinidad Island, there was ro 

 expenditure of the whole vegetative effort in produ* 

 cing herbage and upper growth ; while there was 

 not a single tuber but only fibrous roots, nnder ground. 

 Under this view of the case, I am inclined to the be» 

 lief that, whether it be an Jlpiam as commonly sup« 

 posed, or a Coniura as. others say, it is a native of 

 very elevated tracts, and will, in all likelihood, require 

 a long and patient course of experiments to reconcile 

 it to low lands and places near the sea, if indeed that 

 object can be effected at all. 



Mortality among Peach Trees. 

 I remember the time, nearly forty years ago, when 

 I could boast nearly as many varieties of the peach ; 

 I even said that I would fatten or feed hogs on yel- 

 low clingstones. There has been since that time,^ 

 lamentable reverse. The peach trees of that planta» 

 tion and of the neighbouring region, have been doom- 

 ed to linger and perish. The disease has been con ■= 

 sidered by Mr. Prince as contagious, and communi- 

 cated by morbid flowers ; and by Mr. Adriance, os 

 caused by a malign influence shed npon the peact 



^ed I had found a new or nndescjibed species, and [ tree by the lombardy popular. Other discreet obseJ. 



