THE POSITION OF POTATOES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 41

THE POSITION OF POTATOES.

Sales of- old Derwent potatoes were made - to-day "at £5 per ton, which, in face of the new"-_ potato crop now coming in, is , sufficiently significant. The -primary cause of the high prioe- now ruling for old potatoes is the failure of the crop of early pota- ■ toes in Auckland ; but there are other causes at work" which point to the probability of a gradual firming in the potato market. - According to the Government returns just issued the decrease in the acreage under potatoes this year is considerable, amounting^ to nearly 6000 acres.. What thi& means will be seen by the following comgarison : — Yield Total per- Acre, Yield, Acreage. in Tons. in Tons. 1904-5 ... .. 25,812 *6 * 154,872-1903-4 _ 31,408 ' 6.15 193,267 1902-JJ •„. ./ 31,259 J5.61 206,815 * Estimated. Assuming this_ estimate to be somewhere within the mark, there is the probability of a shortage this "season of nearly ,40,000. tons of potatoes, which shortage may be materially increased by -the failure of the Auckland crop! This represents a 'shortage at the rate of some 750 tons- weekly for the whole year, and, estimating that the country districts fairly will supply their own needs, this 750 tons divided between the four centres represents a shortage of some 16ft. tons weekly" in' each centre, f There. is also the possibility _of a better export ..demand, during the. coming" season.. Latest Sydney-advices state: Owing to the dryweatber on the -Hunter River the potato crop in that locality ' will "be an almost total failure. Supplies coming forward from the northern rivers will also be much j smaller, and m. the Windsor district there is not likely to be more than a moderateyield.. JPrices range from £7 15s to £8 per ton, and very few on the wharf. We' anticipate that during the coming season potatoes will be higher than they were last year. '

The potato position is, therefore, worth •watching, for after a couple of indifferent .seasons it will be stood news to growers to hear that after ali there may be money in potatoes.

In this connection the following from the Year Book is of interest: — rt A comparison, of the gross yield of potatoes, with the amount exported in each of the 12 years 1883-94, showed that, for such period an average of 5971b per head was retained in jfche colony. Allowing for waste, pig feed, and 1 seed, the average amount retained for human consumption was found to be 4491b per head."