The aid of exploration in potato improvement

Conclusion

Since the first appearance of the potato in Europe there have been difficult conditions for it to meet. As pointed out, its progress has been haphazard and indecisive. Radically changed environments, new plant pathogens and insects, and the increasing and varying human demands, have contributed toward larger improvements for survival and economical production. Although other species of tuber-bearing solanums are being studied and used in devising the Wanted plants, the greatest success would seem to rest with the 48-chromosomeSolanum tuberosunv itself. For this purpose its native lands and secret dwelling places must be searched with diligence and attention. The value of the plant in world economy, the great savings and security to be effected by its improvement, and the foreshadowing demands of the future justify any effort toward a further search for the parental and other strains of the potato, and possibly the diploid parents themselves, if there are any.

The potato breeding work for the United States is in the hands of able geneticists who have well considered, long-range plans for the improvement of the American potato (9). Until the sources of breeding stock have been thoroughly explored and the possibilities of improvement exhausted, no program of improvement will be complete. Chile alone may not yield the answer, but it offers a concrete, definite project of plant exploration and investigational work which can be concluded in a systematic manner.