352 THE POTATO 



Land values have advanced in ten years from 

 $25 an acre to $200 an acre for best improved 

 farms. 



Potatoes are graded and shipped in barrels. 

 The No. 1 grade is two and one fourth inches or 

 more in diameter. No. 2, one and one half to 

 two and one fourth inches in diameter. The No. 

 1 grade usually sells for one dollar per barrel above 

 the No. 2 grade. When the potato crop is short 

 and prices are high, the culls are also shipped. 

 Average prices received by the grower for five 

 years has been $3.25 per barrel net. Barrels hold 

 eleven pecks (two bushels and three pecks). 



When the potatoes are dug, three rows are 

 thrown into one and one set of pickers pick out the 

 No. 1 grade, another set of pickers follow and sort 

 out the No. 2 grade. This seems a very crude and 

 expensive way. 



At the beginning of the harvest, potatoes are 

 only partially matured. They are soft and full 

 of sap and must be taken out of the hot sun within 

 thirty minutes from the time they are exposed. 

 Otherwise, they scald and heat. No sorter or 

 grader has been devised that will grade without 

 bruising the skin. 



This season (1912) the best growers are spray- 

 ing extensively for blight. 



The cost of growing potatoes in Florida is given 

 in Chapter XIII. 



In a report of Ed. R. Kone, Commissioner of 

 Agriculture of the State of Texas, the following 

 in regard to the Texas potato situation is sub- 

 mitted: 



"Potatoes are a profitable crop in Texas. Our 

 soils and chmatic conditions appear well suited to 



