CHAPTER Xn 



SELLING AND STORAGE 



DOES it pay to store potatoes or sell direct 

 from the field to the dealer, and if storage 

 pays what sort of structure is best? 



The answer to the first must be made by the 

 individual grower. The element of chance en- 

 ters very largely into this problem, to a greater 

 degree, perhaps, than with any other farm crop. 



Statistics show that this statement is true — 

 viz., that the farmer who has favorable conditions 

 for potato growing and can practise a good rota- 

 tion, who will grow the same acreage of potatoes 

 each year for ten years, selling half at digging 

 time and storing the balance, will show a nice an- 

 nual profit on his ten years' operations. 



To say that prices will be good this year or next, 

 or that it will pay to sell or store this fall or any 

 later single fall, is simply making a guess. 



The Government reports showing acreage and 

 condition of crop during the season and a compari- 

 son with other seasons give some idea of what to 

 expect. In addition to this the grower should know 

 what other districts besides his own are in position 

 to compete with him in his natural markets, and 

 the condition of their crop is another fact on which 

 to base his guess. Figuring the average pro- 

 duction in the United States at about ninety 

 bushels per acre, the per capita consumption 

 four bushels, and the population of the country. 



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