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Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 110, 7 February 1928, Page 6

foretelling a crisis in the tomato industry, L. Esculentum, in the “New Zealand Smallholder,” says since the war tomato production has increased far faster than population, and tomato land has beon bringing fabulous prices. Between Wlmngarei and Invercargill several hundred thousand pounds are locked up in glasshouses for tomatoes. Will the industry fade as it has arisen? lue writer thinks not. As the tomato appetite is supposed to be acquired, so is the art of producing it without mishaps. Plant yields steadily inc-lease. and are now put at from 41b. to 91b. per plant in glasshouses—say, an average of 51b. Auckland’s 200,009 people are supplied from Whangari. Avondale, Mangere, Otahuhu, and many other areas within a radius of 40 miles. Thames has 150,000 plants growing. Hastings is a hotbed of them, and within five miles of Bay View there are 250.000. The Hutt Valiev supplies Welling'on. and sends Auckland a late crop. There is a vast tomato industry around Christchurch and in Nelson ; while Blenheim. Timnru. and Otago contribute some assistance. A tremendous record crop is in view, and unless tho unforeseen happens, and organisation springs to the rescue, there will be some groat marketing tragedies. “Increased production without increased sales,” says the writer, "must reach a point where there will bo a eollanse of tho markets of n most valuable industry. carrying financial loss, if not ruin, to a good many.”