266 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Bu. Per Price 

 Acreage Production Acre Dec. 1 



1906 ...4,020 482,400 120 $0.43 



1907 6,340 507,200 80 .55 



1908 - 6,090 669,900 110 .60 



1909 8,430 868,200 103 .55 



1910 8,500 875,000 103 .60 



1911 6,068 901,808 148 .73 



1912 ....^ '. « .46 



*1913 3,500 157,500 45 .80 



*Estimated. 



Despite the extent of this industry in Scott county it has been stead- 

 ily losing ground in the last two or three years and if the present rate 

 of decrease continues promises to soon take Scott county out of the list 

 of heavy potato producers just as various other sections of the state 

 which at different times have grown large numbers of tubers now pro- 

 duce practically none. Among such sections might be mentioned Cen- 

 tral City, Anita and Shenandoah. The cause for the falling off in pro- 

 duction are three. In the first place while Davenport is a splendid local 

 market and could consume all the potatoes which the county could 

 produce. Nevertheless market facilities are very unsatisfactory and the 

 groovers from this county regularly receive from 20 to 25 cents per 

 bushel less on the average than those growing potatoes in counties of 

 smaller production. In the second place the low yields due to unfav- 

 orable weather conditions during the past two seasons have tended to 

 discourage growers. In the third place the potatoes of Scott county do 

 not rank up with those of some northern sections. This is due chiefly 

 to the fact that growers have been paying little attention to this phase 

 of the subject and many of the potatoes are green and immature and 

 a large number are very scabby. A prominent wholesale house in 

 Muscatine informs me that it finds that it can not with profit or satis- 

 faction buy potatoes at the leading centers of production in this county 

 such as Eldridge, Walcott and Donahue because the growers will make 

 no effort to furnish a quality of tuber that will meet the demands of 

 their customers. 



The potato growers in Scott county are mostly of German descent. 

 They are industrious, hardworking people and seem to take naturally 

 to the growing of this crop. They have a splendid soil for the produc- 

 tion of potatoes and are as a rule well equipped with machinery such as 

 diggers, planters and other tools for potato growing. Their methods 

 of preparing the ground and of cultivating are thorough. As a rule 

 they practice spraying and keeping the Colorado beetle well in check 

 although practically nothing has been done towards the control of the 

 early blight, by spraying. 



They are just beginning to recognize the need of treating seed with 

 formaldehyde for scab but they have grown potatoes on their farms so 

 long that the ground in many cases is thoroughly infected with this 



