THE MAGIC POTATO.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7942, 17 January 1906, Page 3

THE MAGIC POTATO.

A potato weighing not more than two ounces was sold in Wellington recently for ten shillings. Last year Messrs P. Cooper and Sons, of the Hutt, imported one pound of seed potatoes of the variety, known as "Eldorado," and planted them in shallow boxes, which later on were covered with glass to protect them from frost,''an it was one of the tubers produced in that way which the firm disposed of to a Dunedin business man for half-a-sovereigu. Two or three years ago potatoes of the Northern Scar variety were sold in Wellington at 8s 6d per lb, and last yeai Messrs Cooper disposed of 1 tons at la per lb. For tune, indeed, has smiled upon the potato of late—-that is, of course, the potato as a. speciality, and not the ordinary "cropper," which, ia this colony has recently been anything but favoured by the fickle dame. In the Old Country nothing which'grcws upon the earth or under it ehines brighter for the mj ment in the eyes of harassed British agriculturists than the hum bio root. It was whispered at the 1904 show of the National Potato Society that one favourite grower had cleared £20,000 in a Season' by the sale of a special variety, not 'for eating ; it need hardly be said, but for seed purposes. Amongst the distinguished exhibitors at the Society's last show, held in London in Novemoer, was Mr A. Findlay, of Anchtermuchty, N.B. It wais this gentleman who first raised the "Eldorado," a modest looking vegetable, though veritably the root of many fortunes, and practically the origin of the recent boom. Mr George Massey, another non-compe-titive exhibitor at the exhibition, himself a great grower, paid, eighteen months ago, the record price of £IOO for 141b weight of these, selling again a pound for €250 sterling, and a single specimen for fifty guineas. When it is remembered the. potato is infinitely reproductive, the magic attraction of such figures will be readily understood. "Northern Star," another of Mr Findlay's discoveries, created a great sensation by its disease-resisting properties when it first rose above the agricultural horizon, and though it has cheapened since, then Mr fcindlay says, "of all the varieties I bave Bent out. not one of them so nearly approaches my ideal potato as this." The great number of entrjes for these exhibitions in itself indicates the allurement of the potato as a speculative investment, every grower hoping to win sudden fortune by the discovery of a tuber which willFbe absolutely proof against blight, immensely prolific, and commendable at table. Indeed; the humble cpnsumer, as he wanders down the vistas of well-filled tables, may be pardoned a moment's doubt as to whether his own modest requirements in this latter direction are always kept In view, as they should be. The horticulturist who could invent a potato which the modern cook couid not spoil, or which would recall in the saucepan memories of the traditional glories of the root, would indeed be a benefactor to his kind, and would reap a reward, though bis crop was small by comparison with the productiveness of some of the wonderful plants exhibited at the National Society's big show.