April 1922 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page Nine 



Shipping- Point Inspection of Potatoes 



By W. H. Wicks, 



Director Bureau Plant Indwtry and Acting Director Bureau Markets, Idaho Def art- 

 men t Agriculture, Boise. 



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I In view of the jctct that fruit and | 



I vegetable groivers of the country seem I 



I to have won their fight for general | 



I adoftion of shiffing faint insfection | 



I of their froducts by the government, | 



I . this article on the subject is con- | 



I sidered timely and informative. | 



I Potato growers have been in the van^ \ 



I guard in working out with govern- | 



I ment bureaus satisfactory methods of \ 



i conducting such insfection. The | 



I benefits to this industry have been \ 



I 7nany, as Director Wicks here sets \ 



I forth from exfer'.ence with the in- \ 



I sfection service in Idaho. | 



3 \ 



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ON JULY 1, 1921, the Idaho State 

 Department of Agriculture con- 

 summated a formal agreement 

 with the Bureau of Markets and Crop Es- 

 timates, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 pertaining to standardization and inspec- 

 tion work. 



The objects of this agreement are; (a) 

 To aid in the improvement of existing stan- 

 dards for fruits and vegetables and to es- 

 tablish standards for fruits and vegetables 

 not already standardized, giving due atten- 

 tion to the desirability of establishing, so 

 far as practicable, such standards in con- 

 formity with those promulgated, recom- 

 mended or proposed by the Department 

 of Agriculture of the United States, (b) 

 To develop further the shipping point in- 

 spection service in the state of Idaho, with 

 special reference to the co-ordination of 

 such work with the food products inspec- 

 tion service, now conducted in central mar- 

 kets by the United States Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The method of procedure consists of 

 the employment by the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, of a supervisor 

 inspector, who works with the director of 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Idaho 

 Department of Agriculture, in developing 

 the Idaho shipping point inspection ser- 

 vice in accordance with the general policy 

 of the United States Food Product! In- 

 spection Service. The Idaho Department 

 of Agriculture must approve no permanent 

 changes in existing horticultural laws with- 

 out consulting the Federal Bureau of Mar- 

 kets and Crop Estimates. 



From this agreement it is seen that state 

 grades and standards are promulgated in 

 harmony with federal grades. This ar- 

 rangement makes it possible for shipping 

 point standards and certificates used to be 

 practically the same as those used by the 

 Federal Bureau of Markets and Cron F.tti- 



mates in making inspections and transact- 

 ing their work in terminal market inspec- 

 tion points. This co-operative agreement 

 has done much to overcome the undesirable 

 features of state shipping point inspection 

 during 1919 and 1920. 



Crop and Data Inspection Records — 

 Using figures of the Idaho Crop Reporting 

 Service, we find that the potato crop of 

 Idaho for 1921 was placed at 10,545,000 

 bushels. This crop was produced on 57,000 

 acres with an average }'ield of 185 bushels 

 per acre. Allowing 90 cents per bushel 

 as the average market price for all varieties, 

 the potato crop had a valuation of $9,490,- 

 500. 



In point of production Idaho is out- 

 classed by Maine, New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minne- 

 sota, in the order given, placing Idaho sev- 

 enth. In point of average yield per acre, 

 Idaho is exceeded only by Maine, whil_e 

 in 1920 the two states tied at 180 bushels 

 per acre. The average for the United 

 States is 109.6 bushels. 



The four states now having state and 

 federal co-operative shipping point inspec- 

 tion are Washington, California, Colorado 

 and Idaho. Comparison of estimated pro- 

 duction and the rate of inspections up to 

 December I is interesting. The carlot fig- 

 ures are: 



State 

 California 

 Colorado 

 Idaho 

 Washington 



Car 



Shipm'te 

 3423 

 7844 

 6672 

 2964 



Cars 



Inspected 



400 



7500 



6156 



800 



Per Cent 

 Inspected 



11 



95 



92 



26 



Production of these states may prove in- 

 teresting. The 1921 figures, in carloads, 

 are these: California, 84' 9; Colorado, 



18,000; Idaho, 10,500; Washington, 6,- 

 000. 



We call attention to the fact that Colo- 

 rado has a compulsory law which makes 

 it necessary that all cars carry a certificate, 

 while inspection is optional in California, 

 Washington and Idaho. Of the three 

 states maintaining optional inspection, 

 Idaho ranks first, having secured 92 per 

 cent inspection for all cars moved up to 

 December 1. 



POTATO Grades— The Idaho official 

 grades for the sale and shipment of 

 potatoes are those established by the U. S. 

 Bureau of Markets and Crop Estimates. 

 These grades are: U. S. Grade Fancy; U. 

 S. Grade No. 1 and U. S. Grade No. 2. 

 These government grades are now also be- 

 ing officially used by Washington, Oregon, 

 Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas 

 Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina and New 

 Jersey. 



Idaho's record on grades since the in- 

 spection was inaugurated has been this: 



Per Cent 



Grade 1919 1920 1921 



U. S. Fancy .99 



U. S. No. 1 90.9 92.02 86.18 



U. S. No. 2 6.4 5.08 9.54 



Comb. Fancy & No. 1 0. .17 



Comb. Nos. 1 & 2 1.18 2.9 



No Grade 2.7 1.06 .22 



How Inspection Is Conducted — Ship- 

 ping point inspection is offered by the 

 State Department of Agriculture at load- 

 ing points only, where trained inspectors 

 are maintained and there is a sufficient 

 tonnage and demand for inspection. Dur- 

 ing the year 1921 shipping point inspec- 



iContinued on page 18) 



Loading potatoes at one of the 128 inspection points maintained in Idaho under joint federal and 



state manaaement last year. 



