AGRICULTURAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LII, Issue 160, 3 July 1918, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL.

roi A to. >H STORY.

I There is a fund of reminiscence con | nec.tod with potato-growing, more p:ir- ! tieularly when it is remembered thai j there ■-•ire many settlers here (says tht f Chri'vtcburch Sun) who can carry then ] recollection' back to the time when' tin ony tuber known in this Dominion v.a i the kumera, or -Maori potato. A chat , with a gen'tlemaii'who for long has ben i connected with the industry, therelVc < was particularly interesting, espcHaUy when conditions of even, a few ycir back are .compared with those of <"!n present day. In ihe early sixties, he stated, potatoes were first imported iii- ■ to Auckland from Tasmania, these corn- ; ing 'principally from near the Jlcr went. Thus the name of Blue Derwc. ;: was derived.. Tubers- were then sold i: to £2O a ton. Later the Cainterbury and Oamaru districts became the chief i growing centres, and' for about 20. ye: 1 !-. shipped quantities away, not only to the North Island, but al'o to New South Wales, West- Australia, and Queensland. Yield's then were high, 14 tons to the acre being a common return- : but trices were correspondingly low. 25s a "ton off the fork being '.K: usual thing. But not . only were the yields high, but the size of, the tubers was much larger than now. In fact.

| the large siae wais a source of Irej qnent comtilaint, for many tubers went ! a foot in length,. with a tendeni.vy. U: become hollow in wet weather. Thi\~'hollow tubers, when- bagged, would of.terii split on. heiwg handled. Thoit flesh was often' too blue, earning re jeetions bv merchants, the trade te-n ■ for-this ' class 'being "Maoris." Up *. about eleven years ago blight wa.9 no"existent, but it then came like a hoi... from the blue, and. for a few year literally ravaged the crops. The T.'er went suffered most, whilst the Kidneygrown principally for the early maxkei , also suffered' considerably. _ In conre -quen.ee of their 'susceptibilities, the;< potatoes went out of favour, Nortbo.Stars and U.p-to-dates 'taking the; place. The first Up-to-date gown a this period'sold at aboiit Is a lb. Fron the Up-to-date, another prominent po tato was derived. This was His Majp ty, a fine white potato, which wa. ppfenddd for eating. Its yields at- the commencement were prolific, 20 t.-. the acre being common. But,-in aoco'-r 1 ance with what has' been a rule will potato varieties, it? yielding _ propensities have''deteriorated;.'arid'it is hot n ! great favour now. Contrary to the gen oral impression, both the Breeze aur /Endurance varieties are not •com'paia tively new here, but were grown to : limited extent during .the Derweivt era .but thy were just then greatly relished}" The "advent-o-f the blight, of course swung .the pendulumi of favour fro*the blue, to the white varieties. b . consequence, - although the blight i. (still with us—as this season eloquenth deriionstrates-—it does .not make thf clean sweep of the. crops that it did a •I; the outset. As can be expected, the history <>l the potato here affords a striking il; lustration of control'its oii> the fi.iian.--ia 'side. Thus. 12 years* ago, it co't 6r a sack to lift the crop. To-day 2s to 2 6d per sack is paid. Potato land conic be rented yearly at'sos to 60s per a', re as compared with £4 to £S now. .T pick potatoes over and ■■bag from ,/h pit costs 8s to 93 -per day, this beinp equal, possibly, to 6d per' sack. At it.lv period mentioned, 2d to 3d a sack wa charged. Twine for sewing. sackss' co. 1 > four times more to-day than it. d:c then. Ten years a.go sacks were & t--6s a dozen. ' As a crop of eight tow. tthe acre is the decided' exception: -In;: •eeason; the average being about Jive tons, the reason, fe evident that price must be dear under present 'conditions Whilst discussing potatoes, the qre*M for blight-re:i.stin.g varieties is a per sifi'-cn't one, and the {/faitus- ol different •tubers are the sub j e'-'.t of contirw.i' pirartacal experiment'. The -claims ol the King Edward, or Fei-nside Hero a it is sometimes called, have been advanced lately in this respect, as it appears ito have been extremely succers-fu this season. It is grown generally further south. -Admittedly, this tuber w a splendid blight-resister, whilst al'o it, is noted for the manner i™ which it will keen. Some specimen*® ;ceen last 'October were in splendid; condition. . I* has a whitish appearance, with red streak*. . However, the good qualities; mentioned 'are rather counter-balance'' by the fact that for table purposes it is somewhat coarse, and therefore it if not especially attractive from.'the market view-point.