Sounds likely. Taters can also mean cold (rhyming slang: 'potatoes in the mould'), but I don't see how that could be related to 'gumming' (whatever that is ;-))
b
That's how I'd interpret it- it's to show how much he has aged since setting out to go prospecting in the first verse:
Row Bullies Row - Jimmie Driftwood - YouTube