NEW POTATOES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13307, 13 October 1906, Page 7

NEW POTATOES.

I HOW DO THE CHINESE GET THEM? "'ih'.v: potatoes, ?.J>d lb." This legend, ap- ' r.cf : g in certain Chinamen's shops, sets ■ e puzzling where. those new potatoes came from (says the New li'ealand Times). It is not yet time for the Auckland new potatoes, which, though usually tho first in the market, do not generally appear till the end of October or tho beginning of November; and as none of the auctioneering firms seem to have had any new potatoes coming forward from anywhere, it is a puzzle where the labelled "now" potatoes come from. A man who claims to know something, contributes the valuable information that certain white-skinned varieties of American potatoes, now coming in, may, by washing, bo made to look exactly like the white, smooth-skinned " new" potato. Tho White Elephant" and the "Burbank" are varieties of this sort, the latter for preference, because it produces so many potatoes small and round, approximating to our November article in everything except taste. " You don't buy them a second time after eating them," our informant observed, but, then, they hardly expect to sell them again to the same person." A very slight turnover pays, because those who soil these American potatoes as " new" pay about lid for them, and get about 2£d. Of course, to define a "new" potato may he as quibble-, some a matter as to fix the ago of a, "fresh egg . as apart from an egg; but these ! American invaders can hardly lie less than five -or six weeks old. The* newest thing I about them is the use which is made of them : and that is a matter probably beyond | even the foresight of Burbank, the great | , hybridsser whose name they beat. |