THE POTATO CROP

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 73, 29 April 1930, Page 5

THE POTATO CROP

ARTICLE RECALLS OLD MEMORIES. GLUT CONDITIONS IN HAWKE'S BAY. POTATOES GALORE IN THE EIGHTIES. My mention- of the fact that Hawke'f Bay potato growers are averaging uj: to 12 ton per acre for their crops this season reoalls memories of the clc days of potato growing in the mind of a Hawke's Bay resident of manj years standing. He writes me as foilows : — i "The mention of a 12 ton per acrc crop of potatoes _ this season reminds me that in the eighties such a return for a 'spud' crop would he ignored and treated with contempt. The tubea-s raised in and«around Hastings, Clfive, Meanee, Tajradale, Pukehu, etc., at the above period, for quality, size, cheapness and quantity, were unequalled perhaps in the world. "I was well acquainted with . the farmers and croppers who belonged to the a'bove localities, .and who specialised in potato growing. Thou.sands of tons were sent across the Tasman for the Sydney market in the late Mr Vautier's fieet of colliers. "Hard working potato growers burnt their fingers badly over the venture. Some wea-e lucky in hitting the market at. the right time, but generally speaking tlie 'game was not worth f-h'e candle.' Theiresult of the uncertainty of tlie Sydney market for potatoes, caused a slump in the local market/ "Dacota Reds. of the best quality ranged from 10s to 30s per ton. Private families could buy potatoes by the sack weighing 200 pounds for ls 6d and 2s delivered. Rows of 'spud pits,' chains long, were to he 6een in dozens of paddoclis. The potatoes wea-e ahsolutely unsaleable. "The crops produced were enormous, in some instances 20 to 25 tons per acre. I could point out the paddock in Soutliland road, Hastings, where the latter crop was grown. "The same variety of seed was used in the above named localities for years, until the yield was well (below the average. New seed was procured from the South Island without better results. "The potato growing industry, as far as Hawke's Bay was eoncerned, petered out. None-of the present day farmers can give a logical reason as to the cause of the falling away in the potato crops when compared with early years."