PUKEKOHE POTATO CROPS

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 565, 10 September 1920, Page 2

PUKEKOHE POTATO CROPS

EFFECT OF FROSTS

PECULIARLY PATCHY

OUTLOOK NOT PROMISING

! ~ : Tiie number of frosts expeniTTPtT'H in Pukeknhe this winter has been l)henomen:il. anil as a result quite a i number of early potato crops have suffered, some extensively and others ( wry slightly. The "black" frost ex- j pel ienced about three week- a.u'o did j i;i >m:: 11 amoiinl of damage. I'otatoes j ' that weie up were cut almost to the ground and progress retarded some ■ what. The\ will come on bir

the ell'ect of the frosts put them back about, three weeks, and those intended for very early on>p> will now hj« much later. Apart 11«■>;i lbi~ the yield will not be as large il their progress had been undisturbed The peculiar thing about the I'n.st u IS that il did not damage whole areas ol potatoes, but patches here and there. As regard- adjoining potato paddocks one paddock was damaged, while the other escaped seathlcss. Another in-tanee in cue paddock was that the eenlr- of the crop was cut right down, while the outside was left entirely undamaged. The fiost was the worst experienced for the last ten or twelve vears. The crops this season are not progressing as well as expected, the dry spell being atti ibutable to this. Warm spring rains are badly needed, otherwise the crops this year will bo nothing less than a failure,