REMAINS GRIM

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 161, 10 July 1945, Page 4

REMAINS GRIM

OUTLOOK FOR POTATOES UNTIIj NEW CROP AVAILABLE Little hope is held out for an improvement in supplies of table potatoes in Auckland until the new crop is dug in September. A few new potatoes may come forward towards the end of next month but they will be insufficient to provide any relief. The repi&sentative of a wholesale firm who has just returned from Christchurch stated to-day that crops in Canterbury were below normal, digging was retarded by the continual wet weather and the bulk of anything which passed through merchants' hands was taken by the Government for dispatch to the Pacific. Shipping delays were also frequent.

Home gardeners are getting in early this year with their plantings and risking frost and blight dangers in the hope of augmenting as early as possible the trickle of supplies doled out to local consumers. Many householders are taking an opportunity to prepare the soil during the fine days. These activities are reflected in a strong demand for seed potatoes, whether certified or not, and one firm is over a month in arrears with orders.