THE POTATO. 237 



between them, it is not believed there have been any 

 radical changes in the potato since its cultivation be- 

 came common. 



The name potato is probably derived from batata, 

 the name by which the sweet potato was formerly 

 known. It is often called "Irish potato," probably 

 because of its general cultivation by the Irish people. 



Prodnction.— The average acreage on which po- 

 tatoes are grown in the United States is not far from 

 2,250,000. In some years it has exceeded 2,500,000. 

 The crop has not reached 200 million bushels more 

 than two or three times. The crop of 1891 is the 

 largest ever grown, the best estimates placing it at 

 about 225 million bushels. The average yield per 

 acre, for 1891, is placed at ninety-four bushels. The 

 average for a series of ten years was only seventy-six 

 bushels. It has never reached 100 bushels for the 

 whole country, although the average in some states 

 has frequently been above this figure. Yields at the 

 rate of 1,000 bushels per acre have been recorded, and 

 reports of crops of from 400 to 600 bushels per acre 

 are not infrequent. A yield of 150 to 200 bushels per 

 acre is to be considered good. New York, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas are the chief 

 potato states, but not always in the order given. In 

 1888 these states produced a little more than half the 

 crop of the whole country. New York is easily first 

 in acreage and yield. In 1888 it produced more than 

 one- seventh of the total crop. 



While the average price per bushel for a series of 

 years has been only fifty cents, the value per acre of 

 the potato crop is greater by far than that of any of 

 the cereals, and is only exceeded, among the chief 



