A "WATER-POTATO.”

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XV, Issue 4, 20 October 1917, Page 209

A " WATER-POTATO.”

CURIOUS OCCURRENCE NEAR RANGITAIKI RIVER.

D. M. ROSS,

Fields Supervisor, Hamilton.

To those who are acquainted with the history of the potato-plant and are aware of its wide climatic and geographical range, certain eccentricities manifested in its wild state will not be surprising.

On the islands of the Chonos Archipelago Darwin found the plant growing in great abundance on the sandy, shelly soil near the seabeach. The tallest plant, he says, was 4 ft. in height. The tubers were generally small,, but he found one of an oval -shape 2 in.- in diameter. They resembled in every respect English potatoes, -and had the same smell, but when boiled they shrunk much, and were watery / and insipid, without any bitter taste. He considered them undoubtedly indigenous, and ascertained that they grew as ", far south as latitude 50°. The specimens which he brought home formed a variety which by some botanists has been considered as specifically distinct. “It is remarkable,” he continues, that the same plant should be found both on the sterile mountains of central Chile, where for more than six - months no drop of rain falls, and within the damp forests of the southern islands.”

It apparently remains, however, for. New Zealand to record the occurrence of what may be termed a “ water-potato.” On the northern side of the Rangitaiki River, in the Bay of Plenty district, opposite the old Maori settlement Waiohau, where a splendid spring of fresh water issues from the base of a hill and flows between banks heavily fringed with watercress to the near-by river, a remark -

able instance of a plant forsaking its normal' environment may be observed. There watercress and potato-plants flourish together, and tubers are found among the cress-roots from 12 in. to 18 in. under water. Some of the tubers are almost in mid-stream, others may be found snuggled into the bank fibre, and the foliage of cress and potato mingle on the water-surface. It may be that the plants are dependent for their growth upon the earthy particles held by the cress-roots, and also that there is some fertilizing-quality in the water which drains from the great volcanic area. The potatoes when cooked are not at all mealy, but waxy. They grow to a fair size, and are fit for eating as early as August. I myself have taken the potatoes from the water, but could not determine whether or not they were in competition with. the cress or in partial parasitic dependence upon it.

I was informed that this potato could not be cultivated on dry land, but subsequently found that there was a conflict of opinion on the matter. The question, however, has been determined by ■ a trial recorded below. At the request of the Director of the Fields Division I forwarded 'some of the tubers for testing at the Moumahaki Experimental Farm last season. The Manager's report on the trial is' as follows : - ,1

Some of the “ water-potato ” tubers were planted on 31st August, 1916, in the potato variety trials, having the same treatment, soil, and manures as the sixty-six • other varieties planted on the same date. The potato in question came away vigorously, and. is distinct in foliage, with a large blue flower, bearing seed-apples naturally. The crop was lifted on 6th February, 1917, and was free from disease. The yield was as follows : Marketable tubers (table and seed), at the' rate of 11 tons per acre ; pig-potatoes, 1-87 tons : total, 12-87 tons. The cooking-test made on 6th February, by .boiling, showed that, the potatoes, kept their colour twenty-four hours, but they could not be classed as good cookers. The'starch-content is believed to be high. About the same date one root was lifted, and the tubers were put into running stream-water. In less than a month the whole of the tubers had rotted.

Despite the negative result recorded in the last part of this report, the circumstances surrounding the growth of the tubers in the Rangitaiki spring may indicate, if only slightly, a possible reversion of this long-domesticated plant to an ancestral habit.

Foot-rot in Cows.— Mr. E. R. Brinsdon, of Halfway Bush, near Dunedin, writes: “ Some years ago I was worried a good deal with this trouble. A remedy I found very effective was to slack a little fresh lime; wash out between the hoof with warm water and soap, then apply the lime with a whitewash-brush. Whenever I saw a cow begin to limp I applied the lime, and seldom had to do it a second time.”