Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 1905. FUNGUS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 12761, 14 January 1905, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14 1905. FUNGUS.

It is a way of • the ' world* to forget 'oM Meti:ds ' when newer anid more .powerful, ones, are maJde. In 3'earA •gp^e-'by, when -New Plymouth ' ■ was'- a very ' small place, anJd the remain,der of the prtovinlcc was mainly staniding bfuish, with here anfd tiiere aJ faran and 3iere an)d there a casual hiamlet, there was an "inTdinstry" , which now is spoken of jdkimgly if not exactly with ridicule. Th ! at was fuirgus-ipiclkiug, and many were the piqkers of the fungoid growth, from Whiclh' the culinary artists of the

Celestial Empire evolve delicacies fi>r the Chinese bon vivant. The picket's were not attracted to the <\oijk out of philanthropy, but for Tiiore sondkl reasons. There was ii. )t miidi money floating about in those days ; the butter iriduustry h;nl not been started, ami wluat is li. i w our staple pro'duc-t was I) rr rtight into town in hand bas'kc Is, the fai'inier receiving in retium for it sluth things in the shape of groceries as were absolutely netessaxy. In the early fungus days t lhe farmers clixl not go in greatly for luxuries. Mr Cho'ng was what 'might be termed the pioneer of the fungfiis industry. He ciame to this polony with a knowledge of what t-lic people of China liked, ,)anlcl at Wellington he made a «tart witihl com,sigpijments of tliis partidular .^pecies of the tliallapliyte family. TJr'at was in 1868, |l)iit k'aWning that Taranaki was Itlie place where the fungus rioted lie came here in 1870, aand at mice cheated a "boom." On the 'first Saturday the "cockatoos" were in cloiver, or/er being jl-aid oiut to them, and wives artd '.children wore smiling faces, for. 'extra tpaaket money was aefceptiable. , Gradiiially, the tra'flic in jiimgus inicrease'd, anid for j^ears it was exported in considerable cfjusuitiiiesi. jWjonild o,ur readers believe that from 1870 up to 1904, there has b|een exported from, this icolonj^ fuingjus of the val^ie of ,£305,59.2 (the return omits a quarter of last year for which the Jfiguilres are not a-vailable) ? Abiding on to tlhat the expionts for the two lyears p|rior to 1870, for whiclh", also, returns are not to be o"bjtiajneid, |an)d tliiose for the. three mon,ths of ;last year, the value would be, ap■proixim'ately, Of this amolumt it is claimed that Taranaki 1 may taike credit for ,£300,000, as it is the fungjus growing district par exbellen'ce. Prior to 1888, New Plymouth port was not cre,ditejd with the exiports of iung(u's, ' although the bulk was sent from here, qjuaaitities also j passing | through. Waitara antdPatea. Prior to 1870 it was coin-! signed to D.uinddin ani'd thence forwojricled to China. , Despite the gqojd times that have come with the advent of the separator and uniform grades of butter, fulngjiis ])ioki!ng is not a lost art, as may be gleaned from the v fact tlbat for. 5 nine .months of last year the.vjaljue of the exports was W e are apt to forget that in its way iumgjus is an' old friejiid, wihichlielpeid \vs considerably wiheai we «ere jioor* and str.itg-gling, andwhich still gives the bush farftier a little extra to spend. Hpweiver, it has; n,o i^lace in the race with' butter. ' . '