POTATOES SENT TO AUSTRALIA

Southland Times, Issue 23793, 15 April 1939, Page 18

POTATOES SENT TO AUSTRALIA

Sample Consignment Pleases ARRIVAL IN GOOD CONDITION Inspections carried out at Sydney on the arrival on March 31 of the sample shipment of about 30 bags of New Zealand potatoes, which were carried by the Awatea, showed them to be in good condition. The shipment was made up entirely of potatoes from the North Island. It was pointed out by Mr R. B. Tennent, director of the field division' of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, who is visiting Australia to discuss the marketing of Dominion potatoes with the Federal and State Governments, that the shipment could not be regarded as a sample of the main crop.

HOPE OF FURTHER RELAXATION New Zealand’s main ..crop, which was grown in the South Island, would not be available for a few weeks, he said. The Federal Government’s modification of the embargo on Dominion potatoes would expire on April 20 and New Zealand hoped that the relaxing of the embargo would be continued for a further period. The Director of the State Marketing Bureau, Mr A. A. Watson, said that the New Zealand Government was going to great trouble to ensure that any potatoes exported to Australia should be of exceptionally good quality. Potatoes grown in New South Wales, and also those imported from Tasmania, said Mr Watson, were permitted a 5 per cent, margin of fault. New Zeland, however, was understood to have imposed a 2 per cent, “tolerance” on the potatoes which it hoped to send to Australia. Mr Watson added that after making his preliminary report he had been instructed by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr A. Reid, to prepare a final report on the potato industry. The report would deal more fully with marketing facilities in New South Wales, handling arrangements and the advantages of a single central market. BIG TASMANIAN SHIPMENT The biggest shipment of Tasmanian potatoes for a year, consisting of 30,952 bags, arrived in Sydney on April 3 from Tasmania. Wholesale prices were reduced by £8 to £l6 a ton, causing a drop of Id per lb in the retail price. Before this the Housewives' Association of New South Wales decided to continue its boycott on potatoes until the retail value fell to 2d per lb. oi - less. It was stated at a meeting of the Wholesale Produce Merchants’ Association in Sydney that the previous high price of £24 a ton had seriously affected the retail trade. Following the recent vegetable famine in Sydney, supplies are now so plentiful that merchants have announced their intention of dumping big surplus stocks of peas, beans and cabbages, after which they would await fresh supplies when the markets reopened after Easter. It was not thought that the recent high prices for potatoes had caused the public to buy less peas and beans.