THE POTATO 229 



*'The growing of Irish potatoes as a truck crop 

 at the South has assumed large proportions," says 

 L. C. Corbett, horticulturist in charge of Arling- 

 ton Experimental Farm and Horticultural In- 

 vestigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U, S. 

 Department of Agriculture, in "Farmers' Bulletin 

 407." "Thousands of acres are annually planted 

 to early varieties of potatoes which are harvested 

 as soon as they have reached suitable size, re- 

 gardless of their maturity, and immediately trans- 

 ported to Northern cities for distribution and con- 

 sumption. This industry extends along the At- 

 lantic seaboard from the southernmost terminals 

 of railway transportation to the vicinity of the 

 great centres of consumption, Florida producing 

 a large annual crop of early potatoes, followed by 

 Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Vir- 

 ginia, Maryland, and New Jersey in turn. The 

 great early-potato-producing sections of Florida 

 are centred around Hastings; in Georgia the sec- 

 tions are largely confined to the vicinity of Savan- 

 nah; in South Carolina a large acreage is cul- 

 tivated in the trucking region about Charleston; 

 in North CaroUna a very extensive crop is planted 

 in the vicinity of Wilmington; while Norfolk, Va., 

 probably outclasses all other regions along the 

 Atlantic coast so far as acreage and yield are con- 

 cerned. This vicinity is one of the oldest and 

 largest early-potato-producing sections of North 

 America. Besides this belt of country devoted to 

 this industry there are isolated regions along the 

 Ciulf coast and in northern Texas, Kentucky, and 

 Missouri where potato growing has been es- 

 tablished and has proved quite profitable. 



"It is impossible to give accurate statistics in 

 regard to this crop, for it changes annually with 



