THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 18, 1850.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume 2, Issue 41, 18 July 1850, Page 1

THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 18, 1850.

As the season for planting the potato is fast approaching, it may not be amiss to devote some little consideration to the best mode of culture of that invaluable root, and to impure what, during the enbu'ng year, is likely to be the probable demand, bfith for liome consumption a id for exportation. Commencing with the last portion of the subject, we may state that there 13 1' very probability of an extensive demand. All the communications from Califoi n\'i in this point, that the potato tiadu can havilly be overdone;—that the rapidly ncui"iHilatin.!* population of t'int rstiaordi'iary conntiy is likely to keep pace wilh, if not to exceed the supj'iv fur-

iiislicd, mul (lint a profitable return is nlnr st ' i rtnin to be rendered to those i , «.■ an ordinary degree of care i |>111vc the potatoes lohen ripe, and in Ijar.k'iii;-; ti'cm in proper cases. Kx|i- riinents in packing, of different kind's, hii <; lecn made—such as shipping lln-in i;i L-ugs, in eases imbedded in lime, and in plain cases through which the annul circulate. These last have been found to be the surcjt mode; arid it lias been recomnit.nded that these cases slmll be of a capacity equal to contain 100lbs. weight, and that the case shall not be liQQpcd full, so that in stowing case above case, the potatoes shn'l not be squeezed and bruised and exposed to the rot and decay thereby entailed. The potatoes which were shipped in limed cases, arrived in sound condition, but greatly discoloured in appearance; whilst those which were packed in the manner recommended, turned out in excellent marketable order. The great matter to be attended to is, thnt the roots shall not be taken from the ground in an unripe state. If they be, they are certain to shrivel and lose weight during the voyage, if they even escape perishing altogether. Another matter which demands the most serious attention of the potato grower, is, to spread them for a few days in a dry and airy place, in order that the superfluous moisture may be exhaled, and that the skin may acquire such a firmness as shall better prepare it for the voyage it has to'encounter. With a moderate share of attention to these instructions, the potatoes of New Zealand will become on object of consideration in the Californian market, and the industry of the native and European cultivators find a ready channel to relieve and enrich them. With respect to the home consumption of the future season, it will we imagine, he much the same as that of the few prist years. The native husbandman, however, would do well to follow the British farmer's practice and to sort out his potatoes with a more careful hand, rejecting the small and ill-grown roots, and exposing to the buyer a fair and even sample. The small and unmerchantable potatoes would not be lost to him, because they would afford unexceptionable food for .his pigs, and wo trust the day is not far distant when our native brethren will discover the great importance of growing peas and beans, and other similar food, so that

their pigs niny be made as famous for condition as they have already become for numbers. We cannot too often impress upon their attention the character of this climate and the quality of the soil. Surrounded, as New Zealand is, by large and energetic British colonics, and without any very remarkable article of remunerative export, such as the wool and tal« low of New South Wales,—it is especially . important that both natives aiid settlers should combine and co-operate in plating the country in that happy position which pod unquestionab'y has destined it to occupy, —that of the grand provision mart of the Southern Ocean. Here the industry of man issale: the fruits of his fields, the cattle of his hills, the sheep of his meadows, are neither lost by deluge, nor by drought. He that sows is sure to reap. His hopes perish neither'by sirocco nor by blight. Here, by ordinary culture, a magnificent pasturage may at once be insured. _ It requires not tens of thousands of sterile and unconvertible acres to carry a thousand sheep. Uere, we reikon how many sheep an acre will feed, not how many acres must be had for a sheep to exist; and, the pasture of New Zealand once properly laid down, i{ may safely challenge competition, either for its powers.of sustentation, or its qualifies for fattening, with the choicest and most expensively irrigated lands of Tasmania. We have sojourned in many lands. We have/tin intimate and a practical acquaintance with almost all of the Australian colonies ; and we can safely aver that not one of them can in the remotest degree compete with the gonial climate and fertile soil of New Zealand. It is this knowledge, and this conviction that urges us to urge our native brethren to ouwnrd nad unremitting exertion. Wliero there is one sheep, we would fain see scores. - -where one ox is browsing, we Would fain behold the scrub rooted out, the grass takiug its place, and goodly herds feeding in rich and '/at contentment. Where lean and lanky pigs are rooting and roving, we would fain behold e'ean oud

commodious piggeries. Where kine nre wandering, too mucli untenilcd, we desire to witness well constructed dairies, tilled with choice store of butter and cheese, (bot/i of which mid of tlio most superior quu'ity are manufactured at Port Cooper), ready for a remunerating market. We arc impatient to behoM all these, bemuse they ore easy of accomplishment, and because they are the true indigenous sources of that natural wealth which is destined to elevate New Zealand to u distinguished position among the countries of the world. lief ore we proceed to consider the best modes of planting the potato, it may be interesting to give a brief notice of the j history of a vegetable which has become .so universally prized in every quarter of

the globe. Some two huu Ircd and sixty years since, Sir Walter Knleigh, an English navigator, of much and deserved renown, and win) had obtained a patent from Queen E'izabeth, in the year J 534, " for discovering and planting new countries not possessed by Christians," had formed a settlement in Virginia, now one of the United Slates of America; on Sir Waller's return to England, it is said that he carried home with him a plant called openaw/c, which was the first potato ever seen in ISng'and. Sir Walter Ra'eigh being possessed of a landed estate at Youghall, in the county of Cork, some of the roots were given by him to his gardener, as a line fruit from America. When the man had reared them to the full maturity cf " apples," lie carried one of the apples to his master, and asked him it Mai were thermic [fruit ? Sir Walter, having examined it, was, or feigned to be so dissatisfied, that he or.icrcd the "weed" to be rooted out. Thr* gardener obeyed, and in rooting out the weeds found a bush I of potatoes. Two bandied years since, the potato was considered as a very great delicacy. So much so indeed, that aldi 'iigh it formed one of the articles provided for the household of the English Queen, yet the quantity used was exceedingly small, because the price charged was exorbitantly dear, being not less than two shillings per pound of the money of that day, or about eight or nine shillings of the present coin. For many years after its introduction into England, the value of the potato rcimtiucd comparatively undiscovered. It was sown at improper seasons, and it was cooked in improper ways,—and it was only afttr a season of great and di tressing famine, that the worth of the potato as an essential article of the food of man, became completely manifest. The famine spoken of occurred in the year 1742, and since that date the culture of the potato has become one of the most important branches of British husbandry. In India, potatoes were at hYst, extremely unpopular, but they have gradually gained favour, and are now spoken of as being the best gift which the natives ever received from their European masters. In the neighbourhood of Patna, many descriptions of European vegetables are brought to market in abundance j they are, however, reared for the consumption of the European inhabitants aljue, the natives rejecting all but the potato, which, though known only since the Jast few years, may perhaps soon take its rank with rice and plantains, as a substantive article of food with the frugal Hindu. Wherever the Englishman seeks a home, he always strives to naturalize this root, which was so long struggling into notice in his own country. Now, amid all the luxuriant and delicious vegetation of tropical climes, he still retains his preference for that simple vegetable, which he considers almost a necessary of life. The most complete success has attended the introduction of the potato into Van Die-men's Laud, and, probably, in no part of the world is the root more beneficially or luxuriantly cultivated. In New Zealand, the potato is not less productive, and the native race have afforded unequivocal testimony of the appreciation in which they hold and of the diligence and skill with which they propogate it; The most experienced of the English fanners deprecate planting too oarly, because they assert that early sowing and late taking up are calculated to greatly deteriorate the root.

•'The soil in which the potato thrives best," says Hie celebrated Mr. Loudon, "is a light loam, neither too dry nor too moist, but if rich it h so muuli the better. They may, however, be giown well on many other sorts of lands. The best flavoured potatoes, are almost always pro. duced from newly broken up pasture grounds not manured j or from any new soil. Repented on the same soil, they very generally lose their flavour." A. new s il produces better potatoes than worked land, no matter how high or how excellent its condition. AVe have ourselves frequently seen the finest and best flavoured potatoes grown, in Van Diuineu's Land, in spots which appeared to be no better than masses of tand. "The season for planting potatoes in the fields," says Mr. London, "depends nfefdi on the soil and climate. Where are very dry, as they always ought to be for an early crop, the sets are usually put in the ground in March or earlier," (March in England would correspond with September in New Zealand) For a full crop ■ the Van Dienieu's Land farmer plants towards the latter end of October and the early part of November, and, as we have said, there are few countries which can surpass Van Diemen's I and, either for the quality or quantity of the potato. Po'atoes, if planted too early, are neither so mellow nor mature os those which arc put into the ground at a later and more congenial period ; and there are two things to be especially borne in mind by the growers in this part of New Zealand, the mildness of the temperature, and the great degree of moisture, both of which a:e apt to keep the potato growing, and are circumstances sufficient to warn against early sowing In preparing the sets of potatoes, some cultivators recommend large sets, others, small potatoes entire. Others advocate merely small sprouts, shoots, or even the eyes or buds. A moderate sized set, with not less than three eves, is always, in our opinion, to be preferred. Where the plough, and the improved system of HrYsh husbandry, is not followed, —the land should be well stirred and pulverize'), and the sets plained in lines from twenty-four to thirty inches apart, either in drills, or by holes made, with the dibble, at intervals of from twelve to fifteen inches. The quantity of seed rifj lircd is from eight to ten hundred weight to the acre. The young plants should be kept free from weeds, mil the produce is frequently enhanced by pinching oil" the blossoms as they appear upon the stalks. Tiic juices which otherwise go to nourish the apple ore thus made to descend to tho roots, and a ton and upwards of extra potatoes to the acre has been found to reward the farmer's pains. It is somitinies desirable to renew the breed of potatoes by raising them from the seed which is contained in the apple. It is a te. dious process, taking three seasons to bring the produce to perfection. However, from the same seed an incredible variety of plants are obtained, and a renewal of the vital principle

of the potato is insured. The mode of raising them is thus stated hy Loudon. "Pluck oft'the apples and when the seeds are fully ripe, which will be seen by the drying up of the stalk, free and cleanse them from the pulp,—sow the seed in beds, and when the potatoes are first taken up, ihey will be about the size of nutmegs. Select the fairest and best of these, keep them carefully, nnil plant them at the proper season, at the distance of fifteen inches asunder. Observe when the stalks dei-ay,—some will do so much Booner than others. These are the caily potatoes. Take them up in rotation us they ripen, and keep each sort separately. One or two may be cooked lor trial, and those most approved set aside for planting. A fter the third taking up, the roots will have reached maturity, and the sower will in all probability have secured for himself some plants of a superior quality, such too, as may be more likely to prove congenial to the country." In planting potatoes, it should not be forgotten that the sets require to be cut some days at least prior to their being planted. If put into the ground newly cut, they may bleed too much, end no vegetation ensue, indt. i if the sets are cut a week or two beforehand, it will be found to be a very great advantage. Some persons force the sets to sprout before planting, but the practice is by no means one to be desired or copied in such a climate as this. There is a blue potato which the natives cultivate, nut a very good looking one, but very well flavoured ; it is however small, and might be worth the attention of growers to bestow somu pains upon it, as a more careful culture might not only enlarge the potato, but greiily improve its appearance.

We might extend these remarks to an indefinite length, but us we have iurnished a sufficiency of hints for the approichiug senson, we shall conclude this paper requesting our nati»e readers to be mindful of not crowding their plants, of working their ground well, of choosing the best and the healthiest seeds, of not planting too early, or taking up too ()uickly, —in a wor-1 of producing such a sample tempt the merchant and amply repay themselves.