POTATO ^<M^U(itfrtcO*t 



hits 40,000,000 mark By robekt 



A. FITZPATRICK 



FORTY MILLION POUNDS of 

 potatoes a month — this is the 

 unbelievable amount demanded 

 by the people of Massachusetts. 

 Thus is created the potato market, 

 the broad outline of which is easily 

 seen, but the fine details are not 

 only often obscure but always 

 changeful. One state alone cannot 

 supply this need, because potato 

 production in the United States is 

 widely scattered and seasonal. Con- 

 sequently, in some years, as many 

 as thirty-five states and four Can- 

 adian provinces may ship potatoes 

 to Massachusetts. Competition a- 

 mong these areas for a share in the 

 market establishes a pattern of 

 marketing, and when supply and 

 demand are free to operate, each 

 area can estimate its position in the 

 market relative to other areas. 



What happens, however, when 

 the market is neither wholly com- 

 petitive nor wholly controlled, as in 

 a period of price supports.*^ And 

 what happens when freight rates 

 are changed frequently in a short 

 timeP How are the details in the 

 marketing pattern changed.^ The 

 final answers to these questions, at 

 this stage of the research, are not 

 drawn up, but results to date are 

 highly provocative. 



In following the course of these 

 will-o'-the-wisp changes in market- 

 ing patterns, studies of potatoes un- 

 loaded at Boston from 1939 to 1950 

 have been made. In the early 

 years of the period, ruling compe- 



* Assistant Research Professor, ."Agricultural Eco- 

 nomics 



titive forces set up a typical market- 

 ing scheme. This pattern, described 

 in terms of percents of total carlot 

 unloads each month at Boston, is 

 illustrated in the accompanying 

 graph. 



Massachusetts Ideally Located 



It can be seen that each state, 

 or groups of similar producing states 

 had a place in the market for a well- 

 defined period. Maine was the 

 leading supplier from October to 

 the following May. Then, as the 

 old crop supplies petered out, the 

 new crop from Florida and the 

 Carolinas (included in "Other" in 

 the graph) helped to meet the de- 

 mand. As harvest moved north- 

 ward, these states were superseded 

 by Virginia, Maryland, and New 

 Jersey (also included in "Other"). 

 With the decline of receipts from 

 these states, the new crop ship- 

 ments from Maine and the other 

 late areas began. Massachusetts, 

 by virtue of its location, had a 

 definite place in the market, be- 

 tween the southern states and other 

 late states, and marketed the bulk 

 of its crop in a few months. Canada, 

 California, and Long Island were of 

 minor importance, although new 

 land was being brought into pro- 

 duction in Long Island. 



Legislation Affects Production 



Between 1943 and 1950, striking 

 changes occurred in the production 

 and marketing of potatoes in the 

 country. The war promoted t^ie 



