STORAGE OF POTATOES.

Waipa Post, Volume VI, Issue 270, 5 December 1913, Page 4

STORAGE OF POTATOES.

The method of storing potatoes adopted by a half-caste farmer at Fukerua is so novel and at the same time so effective that a description of it will, no doubt, prove of interest to our readers. Last season on his well-managed little sheep farm he planted two acres of freshly ploughed land in potatoes. The portion that had been planted with Derwents was a failure owing to the potatoblight. The remaining portion of the crop, • consisting of two other varieties, had been taken up and stored in what to me was quite a new and certainly most effective way, instead of being stored in a shed or pit. Corner posts, 17 ft. apart one way and sft. the other, were sunk into the ground; on these a frame was built, length about 17ft., width sft., depth 2%ft., height above ground 4ft. The bottom of the frame was> floored with slabs some 2in. apart; this -was then covered with an inch or so of manuka scrub to prevent the potatoes from falling through. The sides and ends were enclosed by rails or battens nailed to the corner posts so as to enclose more manuka scrub, which was further secured by a stay or two in the middle, let into the ground for extra stability and support to the structure. (It would be a good idea, where rats are likely to give trouble, to tack tin around the supporting posts). The potatoes were then stored therein,-those that were selected for seed being placed in kits, and the whole covered over with about 6in. of loose fern. The explanation given was that the potatoes did not heat, and, being fully exposed to the wind and air, no matter how heavy the rain, they soon dried. My informant told me that he had seen potatoes so stored at Parihaka in June last and that they were quite sound then. A ton and a half of the potatoes that I saw so stored have since been sold for £ls per ton. I examined these potatoes and found them to be quite sound. From their appearance I should say that one of the two varieties was very like the Dakota Red, which, I have heard, is a sturdy grower and a good blight-resister. I have been informed on very good authority that the improved Dakota Red is almost immune from potato blight. Not having seen it, I cannot say whether the potato mentioned above is the same or not. The other variety was one quite new to me, being what they call a Maori potato known by the name of Huakaroro (i.e., Seagull’s egg). It is, strange to say, a dark-skinned potato, with occasional white markings, and is said to be a good cropper. The Maoris who have grown it assert that it is blight-proof.

In connection with this method of storing potatoes it would prove a most interesting experiment to store apples in the same manner, having the structure divided into compartments where storage is required for different varieties. ,