"PURELY ARTIFICIAL"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 272, 17 November 1941, Page 3

"PURELY ARTIFICIAL"

SEED POTATO SHORTAGE COMMENT IN THE SOUTH potatoes frorn*^" ° f seed the shortage Vh^, Ut^ and '» and Zealand of table New Ba?cfaV by to" teuslho r i<ter^ CU St t , J he Minister's statement was in«t I three months too late " +JL , land after the Ministerial statement it be'teSmSm"' years ago there had been a shortage and last BS year Were hi ® h ' Then had been the opposite es were a Slut on the market The position was so bad that what to-riav S ,r sS\?" o i'y"a" So 0 " ' Minister Blamed ~J£ e - ? iffic i ll ty in Auckland was purely the ci'lJ 3 f I been brou ght. about bv ihe statement of the Minister. It was ridiculous now to talk about planting on The r fimp C ? v 'th °' fset a Possible shortage. Ine time for that was months apro. th '"P of , the statement made by thl Minister, the merchant said although the figures might show that a smaller area had been sown down, that was no guarantee that a smaller quantity would be harvested. Two reasons could be advanced. First, the size of the crop was unpredictable. It might lie a bumper crop in which case there would probably be plenty for all, or it might be a poor tIt P ' S ® concl - 11 was almost impossible to er|uate account 'he numerous small areas grown for private use and consequently the returns as issued might, not give an entirely accurate picture of the position.

Inquiries made in Auckland to-dav ?I e a .1 quantity of seed potatoes from the South arrived on the Waimarino applies were insufficient greatly to relieve the demand.