The Potato Boom 



pen, a prominent merchant of the potato world 

 declared that Eldorado was not a new variety, 

 and that he had any amount in his possession. One 

 kick will demolish a rotten structure, and this pro- 

 clamation came like a thunderclap when the boom 

 was trembling. The whole affair collapsed with 

 dramatic suddenness, and in a few weeks fancy 

 varieties were unsaleable. 



Those unfortunates who had purchased Eldo- 

 rados for forward delivery did not want them, and 

 the boom vanished in a whirlpool of lawsuits over 

 the contracts. 



The next two years were depressed, but things 

 gradually recovered, and the record season of 1907 

 put them right again. The best of the " boom " 

 varieties — 'King Edward, Evergood, and Royal 

 Kidney — have become favourites and spread 

 everywhere, but most of those bought at enor- 

 mous prices were given to the pigs. The ill-fated 

 Eldorado (sinister name) failed to fulfil its golden 

 promise, and has been since unheard of. Since 1907 

 there have been excellent times for potato growers, 

 not from speculation, but honest and steady farm- 

 ing. The boom was but an incident in the develop- 

 ment of the potato industry, and its collapse left 

 much soreness, but no lasting wound. It could not 

 be called fraudulent, though swindlers there might 

 be in its midst. Every one more or less believed in 



87 



