THE POTATO MOTH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2981, 3 May 1911, Page 21

THE POTATO MOTH.

PREVALENT IN THE TAIERI DISTRICT. The potato moth is- now all over the Taieri, and in some portions of it particularly bad. One farmer got his potatoes to the railway station and left them tbere_ for a fortnight, only to find them in such a condition that they were hardly worth sending in. INSPECTION IN WELLINGTON. "There are still a few sound lines of potatoes coming along from, the south," said a Wellington produce merchant to a Dominion representative on Saturday, "but the greater majority are more or less affected by the grub, and we have to do a lot of sorting under the supervision of the Government inspector, who takes good care that grub-affected potatoes are not sold. See that heap of sacks there," said he, pointing to what appeared to be a pile < i new sacks; "they all have to be burned in the destructor."

"Yvflyl "Because of the grub. It does not attack the potatoes in the ground, .but the fly deposits its eggs on the potatoes after they have been hoed up, and on developing the grub at once enters into the potato, burrows its way in, leaving a trail of rot, and after a certain time reaches the air again, and proceeds to look for a comfortable place in which to pass into the next stage of its existence —the chrysalis stage. It finds this in the sacking—look, here they are!" With that he picked out a number nf tiny, dull, red cocoons about an eighth of an inch long, quite firmly embedded in the sacking, which required a deal of picking out ,even with the point of a penknife. They remain in that stage for a. couple of months or so, and then appear as the fly. Referring to the urrusual_ activity of tho grub in dry seasons, he said i "I can only conceive that the potato is not the' natural food of the fly, but, owing to its food being dried up the fly deposits its eggs on the potatoes. The grub has been at the potatoes the whole of the season, but it has been getting steadily worse since the New Year, and now we have to pick over tho potatoes (from affected districts) under the eye of the Government inspector, and the sacks they come in have to be burned."

OTAGO AURICTJLTURAI AND PASTORAL SOCIETY The judges of the field turnip competition —Messrs W. Moynihan (Middlemarch), J. Sutherland (Allanton), and J. Gow (Mosgiel)—have completed their tour of inspection in connection with the Otago A. and P. Society's field turnip competition. Their awards are as follow: Class I.—Best 10 acres or more of swede turnips (any variety). Messrs Nimmo and Blair offer trophy, value 15 guineas, to be won three times (not necessarily in succession) before becoming the absolute property of winner. Adam Bell (Stirling) 1 A. N. Hislop (Starling) 2 A. J. Bell, jun. (Stirling) ... 3 J. F. Mitchell (Stirling), highly commended. The judges report that the turnips were not heavy, but very even considering the season, and the competition between the first three was very close. The crops entered, which were all from the Stirling district, were very clean and the competitors deserving of great credit. Class II. —Ton acres or over of Aberdeen turnips (any variety). Messrs Kempthorne, Prosser, and Co. (N.Z. Drug Company, Limited) offer trophy, value 15 guineas, to be won three times (not necessarily in succession) before becoming the absolute property of the winner. Messrs Diack Bros, were first with a very fair orop considering the dry season through which the district has passed. Class lll.—Ten acres green crop, including turnips, carrots, mangolds, etc. First prize, six tons of agricultural lime (presented by the Milburn Lime and Cement Company); second prize, £l. The judges report that two of the competitors did not comply with the rules, as they had no carrots included in the orop. The other crops were fair considering the dry 6eason. Mr W. J. Charters (Ury Park, Mosgiel) was awarded first priwi. No other prizes were awarded. Class IV.—Best two acres or over of mangolds. First prize, £2; second, £1 (given by the society). This class drew keen competition, and most of the crops were reported as very even and well cultivated. John Bell (Stirling) was awarded first prize, with an extra good orop; Joseph M'Neil (Momona) second, and J. Gow (Invermay, East Taicri) third, with a very fine crop, while Mr P. Anderson's crop (Stirling) was highly commended. Class V. —Best two acres of potatoes (any variety). First prize, £2; second, £l. This class induced a largo number of competitors from the Taie.ri and Clutha districts, and judges reported that the potatoes all throud; were of extra good quality. The first prize ww awarded to Mr D. Boyd (Stirling), with a very heavy croy, and J. Carruthers (Manugo-

tua.) second, Mr G. Anderson (Stirling) third, and Mr W. R. Gawn (North Taieri) highly commended Altogether there were 31 competitors in the various classes. The judges in commenting on the results of the competition wished to thank the exhibitors for the courtesy and assistance extended to them during their tour of inspection.

By Agricola. The entries for the Otago A. and P. Society's annual root competition were equally divided between the Clutha and Taieri, only one solitary entry coming from Palmerston. Considering the season, the crops visited by the judges were remarkably good, and showed very little evidence of want of moisture* The system adopted by the judges for swedes, mangolds, and potatoes was somewhat different from that which usually obtains, and was so lax commendable that no exception was taken to their work. They decided not to weigh any crop, but to inspect them thoroughly and determine in their own minds which was the best, and award the prizes in that way. Probably with the turnip crop this is perfectly justifiable, but with mangolds and potatoes, if the competition is close and the crops heavy and very little between them, it must be a somewhat haphazard manner of splitting them. The crops exhibited were creditable to the men who grew them, and none of the ten who entered for the swede competition need be ashamed of their work.

In the mangold competition the Clutha crop was an extra heavy one all over, and the Taieri seemed to have felt the drought more than the Clutha. although mangolds, with their long tap roots and early sowing seemed to suffer less than any other root crop. The successful competitors were John _ Bell, Clutha. Jas. Mac Neil, West Taieri, and Jas. Gow, Invermay, North Taieri.

In potatoes there were also ten entries—five from each district, and here again there was no weighing. The judges considered that, if a heavy crop was grown, the quality, evenness of the sample, and freedom from disease were quite sufficient indications to guide them in their verdict. They examined every plot carefully for blanks, and judged from the appearance of th© shaws and by sampling here and there throughout each exhibit. How would it have been supposing, for instance, that two crops had been within half a ton of each other in yield, of equal merit otherwise ? How would the judges have separated them ?