POTATO CULTURE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 278, 25 May 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

POTATO CULTURE.

Tlio Government's appeal for the more extensive cultivation of wheat hj, of course, addressed lo the farmers—th,? m-ii who hold land of sufficient are fot the purpose. Potato culture is not exclusively a country enterprise. It is. indeed a work in which tlio people of tlie towns can render useful assistance. If it were practicable to place all the unused land in the boroughs and suburbs under cultivation, the resultant crop would be a large one. What I tiiis would mean if earned out by all the municipalities of the Dominion it is not difficult to imagine. There would certainly be no shortage of potatoes :n Now Zealand, and the surplus available for export would be considerable. An interesting review of the circumstanced leading to the present shortage cf potatoes in Great Britain is given by the London "Daily Telegraph.'' Towards the end of June. 1915, old English potatoes were well-nigh, unsalable. Because some new potatoes—British and foreign, were available, the public flatly refused to us<e up the old crop. L'ttle notice was taken of potatoes or tin production thereof so long as they remained plentiful and cheap. Tn February, 1916, wholesale prices ranged from £4 10s to £6 10s a ton in London, and plenty of potatoes were sold reta'l at three-farthings a pound, and *o everybody remained cheerful. Soon, however, those who know by experience how to estimate the extent of the crops realised that all was not well. Early in April the wholesale price of potatoes bad risen to £7 and £8 a ton, whilst ten days later a further advance to C 9 and £l2 a ton was recorded, those figures representing; about three times normal rates. On June 10th quotations were from £l4 to £l6 a ton, * feva l>est Dunbars realising as much as £l7 10s. In the meanwhile, between the slump of 1915 and the boom of 19 6, many farmers in Fenland reduced their acreage of potatoes and grew mustard. The fact thai the nation needeJ potatoes was overlooked. High prices always cause growers to send their produce to market as quickly as possible. The market being £rm in June and tho beginning of July, 1916, fanners lost no time in marketing their potatoes, with the result that increased quantities led to a sharp fall in the valoe. On July 2G the wholesale rates were from £3 to £9 a ton, and two days later a further reduction of 10s to 20s a ton was recorded. Despite this temporary depression, those in touch with growers and wholesale deilers knew that the crops, were short, especially '"n Scotland, and some tiansactions at high prices took place, as much as £4O an acre and more, being paid for the yield of potato-fields. Business pursued a normal course for a while, but in October there was every indication that potatoes would become very dear. Fro.-n then onward the story is one of unvaried scarcity, difficulty of transport, labour shortage, commandeering at prices far below the market value, uncertainty on tho part of farmers and dealers, dissatisfied retailers and public, and ultimately the fixing of prices—which were modified later —by the Government. Hitherto we have failed to fully realise the great value of the potato, both as food and for other purposes. Dr. C. W. Saleby, in a recently published article, affirms that the most important lesson Germany has to teach us is the use of the potato. Tndeed, he says, she is actually fighting this war on the potato :

The extreme and extraordinary failure of last year's potato crop in Germany—by far the best stroke or fo.-tuno for the Allies hitherto—is the cause of her neT-fcund love of humanity and peace. Long years ago she set to work to study tho wonderful vegetable, for the production of the maximum of power through it. All our power comes from the sun througn tho >oil and the green leaf. The power m«\v be in the sh jot, as in the grasses, or in the root, is in beetroot acd the potato. The yield of starrti and sugar, incarnate, solar rower, in these roots is enormous. Germany studied the breeding of the potato—what, in the of man, we call eugenics—and 'isnature. Year bv year she made each aero yield heavier and more certain crops of this vegetable. She used .t with the gross immorality that all th-3 world knows. 1 otato starch rapidly fermented into segar and thence into alcohol, yields- the potato spirit with which Germany, ourselves conniving, has long been killing native races. Alcohol similarly derived she is now using for the war, and as a source of motorpower. The damage done to Roumanian oil wells only increases the importance of this matter for Germany and ourselves.

Something liko Nemesis will be achieved if we can turn the German experience with the potato for the destruction of African natives into the means of victory foi our nation. New Zealand can holy in some measure by growing as many potatoes as possible, and by ''closing r iown' r on the use of alcohol for other thai: industrial or medicinal purposes.