CROP PROSPECTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 238, 8 October 1935, Page 9

CROP PROSPECTS.

PROMISING OUTLOOK.

BETTER SUPPLIES SOON

POTATOES WILL STAY HIGH.

By the end of the year the shortage in certain root crops should be a thing of the past, though the housewife may still have to pay more' for her potatoes than usual. The farmer, too, whose pastures were several months behind owing to the cold, wet winter and the lack of warmth in the spring, can now look forward to plentiful growth. That, in brief, is the outlook for the coming months. There is a time of the year, known to every housewife, when old potatoeslook the part and new potatoes are substituted once or twice a week till prices come down. This year the choice is new potatoes, at any price, or none. Everybody knows that potatoes have gone to dizzy prices owing to the shortage in the old crop, which was due to drought. At present tlie market throughout the Dominion is bare, and early crops are going into consumption as soon as they come to hand. Auckland has been drawing 011 the Manawatu, Ilawkc's Bay and the Wairarapa for supplies, and the South Island has even been buying back consignments which had been sold to the North. There was a general fear among growers that there would be a lack of seed potatoes for the spring crop, but the area planted is believed to be not much less than usual. Early potatoes are now looking particularly well. There has been practically no frost, and the digging towards the end of this month and during November ami December should be really good. 011 the other hand, because of the general shortage, prices are likely to continue high. Onions From Canada. For onions New Zealand has been dependent during the off-season upon Canada and California, with Canadian supplies predominating owing to the tariff in their favour. Owing to the Australian embargo, no supplies could he drawn from that market. One contributing factor in maintaining high prices has been the strike in Vancouver. Until the new crop conies in, in January to February, prices are likely to be high, but onions should be reasonably cheap in the summer. A slightly larger area than usual has been grown and there will definitely be no shortage. Another crop which lias been in short supply is early green peas. llie wet winter and high winds ruined the earliest crops, but prospects for the late spring crop are excellent, and there is 110 reason why good supplies should not be available before Christmas.

Hothouse t6matoes arc late in reaching maturity, but there is every prospect of a plentiful supply. Larger quantities than usual are being grown outdoors, because of heavy orders by factories. Last year the factories finished the season short of supplies, growers being unable to fulfil orders because of the dry weather. Heavier orders this year are the result. Supplies should be fairly plentiful by December. Island tomatoes have been cheap, but smaller shipments suggest that the glut is over. Uncertain Strawberries. Strawberries are one of the most uncertain. of all crops. A greatly reduced area may yet produce as large a crop as usual if conditions improve. This year the beds are backward, owing to the wet weather, but 011 the other hand a root disease, which sometimes . causes severe mortality, is much less in evidence than usual. There is 110 reason on present indications why there should not be a heavy crop. It should begin to come 011 to the market in quantity about mid-November. Despite high winds, dry weather provided excellent conditions for the setting of stone fruits, and although it will be a week or two before it is possible to give any definite indication of stone fruit crops, there is nothing in present conditions to suggest any shortage. Pastures and Butter. A month ago it was the general opinion among farmers, and among the firms which handle their products, that pastures had not for a long time been so backward. The cold, wet winter stopped all growth of grass, and cold conditions were prolonged into spring at a season when growth is usually robust. One farmer, who said recently that ho had never had so little feed at this time of the year, was probably only typical of most.

The recent warm rains, however, have changed the outlook completely, and farmers need have 110 further fear, provided the summer rains do not fail.

The known shortage of feed is considered to have had a lot to do with the way in which butter has soared in price. London buyers know from week to week exactly how much butter is being graded in New Zealand and Australia, where' the pastures were badly affected owing to the same weather conditions. London purchasers are already buying forward, and it is considered that there will be 110 drop in the price of butter in the immediate future, as stocks abroad are very low.