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The businessman Chew Chong dominated the Taranaki wood-ear fungus industry. The cash he paid for the fungus supported many dairy farmers as they struggled to establish their farms in the 1870s and 1880s. Fungus gathering survived in Taranaki well into the 20th century, often undertaken by farm children to earn pocket money.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Taranaki Herald, 7 January 1874, p. 1
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.