PUKEKOHE PRODUCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22141, 21 June 1935, Page 14

PUKEKOHE PRODUCE

POTATOES ANI) ONIONS v WORK WELL ADVANCED FINE CROPS OF CABBAGE In spite of the wet weather of the past month, excellent progress with planting operations of both potatoes and onions has been made on tlie rich lands in the neighbourhood of Pukekolio. Yesterday, with a warm sun and an absence of wind, the neat, holdings on the famous hill presented a busy scene, final touches being given to areas destined for later plantings of potatoes, neat rows of new onions being cultivated, and mustard crops for green manuring being ploughed in. In a number of cases growers with their earliest potatoes well up were actively engaged in working in a further application of manure.

Actually the planting season for all but the very early potatoes commenced at tho end of last month, and the work has gone on steadily since. Those who meet with success with the earlier sorts rely on an absence of frost and the comparatively empty market, on which their lighter crops should realise higher returns. The bulk of the Pukekoho potatoes come on to the market when all the best of the stored Southern produces is over, and the grower has, at

the same time, the advantage in good seasons of two crops off the same ground. This year, owing to the abnormally dry summer, the second crop was a comparative failure, both from the table standpoint and for seed.

The dry summer proved a mixed blessing, as the crop of onions, which is a valuable second string in the district, turned out well and was of good keeping quality. Those who could afford to store their produce found a market at very satisfactory prices. The new onions, in their long rows of soft green, looked particularly well yesterday. Tho plants will bo lifted at any time now and sold in different parts of the Dominion or planted out at Pukekohe.

The number of Indians in the Puke-

kohe district is steadily increasing, and it has been proved that where the Chinese excels as a general produce grower, the Indian is adept at getting tho best results with potatoes and onions. At the same time, in many parts of the area, the European grower has turned his attention with great success to cabbages, and, at the moment, there is a large acreage under this vegetable in all stages of growth. Large piles of tightly-packed sacks were to be seen yesterday at the gateways awaiting the trucks that convey them to the city markets.

The rich volcanic soils of the Pukekohe district, which are not confined to the hill, but stretch from Bombay well over toward the west, are looking especially well for the time of the year. Generally, Pukekohe is fortunate in being the centre of an area of mixed activity, and while business is far from booming, the returns from close cropping, from dairying and its ever-increas-ing sideline, pig raising, from lambs and fat stock, are all helping to create a good business tone.