400 



THE POTATO 



"The peculiar climatic and soil conditions of 

 Washington are especially favorable for the pro- 

 duction of potatoes, " writes A. G. Craig, Assistant 

 Horticulturist of the same institution in 'Bulletin 

 11.' 



"In many large sections of the state the atmos- 

 phere is so dry during the summer that conditions 

 are very unfavorable for the growth of fungous 

 diseases on the foliage. We do not have in this 

 state the Colorado beetle (potato bug), which is so 

 destructive a pest in other potato-growing dis- 

 tricts. There is little danger of overstocking the 

 market for potatoes here. The Eastern demand 

 for Washington grown potatoes is good and has 

 rarely allowed the price to fall below $10 per ton in 

 car lots in the past. In addition to this there is a 

 rapidly increasing market for our potatoes in 

 Alaska. There is no crop now grown in Washing- 

 ton which shows greater variation in yield per acre 

 than the potato. This is largely because of an 

 erroneous idea that the potatoes as a crop do not 

 need much attention. Many farmers give time 

 and care to the potato crop only when there is 

 nothing else to be done, and as a result the potato 

 is neglected. This crop responds to good treat- 

 ment to as great a degree as any other, and the 

 grower who exercises proper care with his potatoes 

 is always repaid in the yield and quality of his crop. 



"There are thousands of acres of land now de- 

 voted to summer fallow which might produce 

 good crops of potatoes with very little additional 

 expense, and yet leave the soil in better condition 

 for wheat than it is under the present methods of 

 summer fallowing. The average cost of producing 

 potatoes in eastern Washington is a little less than 

 five dollars per ton. The plowing and harrowing 



