POTATO SUPPLIES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 18 June 1915, Page 4

POTATO SUPPLIES.

HEAVY AUSTRALIAN ORDERS DEPLETING THE MARKET.

BY TKLBGBAPH— PRESS ASSOCIATION. WELLINGTON, June 17. During the last week or two, heavy orders for potatoes have been reacninij .New Zealand from Australia, and the dram upon the Dominion's supplies has began to excite alarm in the local r.iarket, where prices have risen sharply since the beginning of May. Apparently, there is a, shortage ot potatoes in the Commonwealth. ' The price in Melbourne at the beginning of May was £4 to £4 10s a ton, but the message published early in the present week gave the ruling rate in the Victorian capital at £6 10s to £7, .and, apparent-: ly, there has been a further rise within the last day or two. The Australian tariff places a duty of £1 a ton on potatoes, and the freight charges are fairly heavy, but it is evident that the Commonwealth is tending to deplete the New Zealand market, and impose a new burden upon local consumers. The matter was brought under, the notice of the Prime Minister to-day, and Mr Massey informed a press representative that he had taken steps to secure all the available information regarding the condition of the potato market. The Government had been given ample power to prevent the depletion of food stocks at the present juncture, and he realised tha,t, while New Zealand would be glad to serve Australia up to a certain point, the rights of the local public had to be protected... The people of the Dominion must not be asked to pay famine prices for potatoes.

"I cannot allow this country to be •left dhort of potatoes ," said the Prime Minister. "If the heavy purchases of the last few days on Australian orders are continued, I may have to prohibit the export of potatoes. I have asked the Agricultural Department for particulars as to the quantities to be available in this country, but I am afraid that exact statistics bearing upon the point are not obtainable, the records showing merely the area planted. However, the matter is going to have attention at once."