As there has been some recent change in these price differences, a com- 

 parison of Boston wholesale prices with certain local New Hampshire whole- 

 sale prices for the 1949 crop year, August to May 1950, shows the relation- 

 ships designated on Table 7. 



Table 7. Comparison of Freight Costs with Boston and New Hampshire 



Wholesale Price Differences, 1949-50. 



Average Difference Carlot 



wholesale from rates per cwt. 



Market price per cwt.l Boston from Boston 



Boston 



Manchester 



Concord 



Keene 



Portsmouth 



^The price quotations of the N. H. Department of Agriculture and the methods of price quotation 

 used are not questioned, although there may be grounds for error here. 

 ^Truck rate. 



Using carlot freight rates as transportation costs, it was not generally 

 profitable to rail-ship potatoes from Boston to Manchester or Concord. As 

 Portsmouth was on the borderline, doubtless there were days when it paid 

 to ship potatoes from Boston by rail, and certainly by truck. Keene had a 

 definite advantage, and it was profitable for Keene district wholesalers to 

 buy in the Boston market. This observation probably holds true for dis- 

 trict 4 on Map No. 5, which shows five major price zones on the New Hamp- 

 shire wholesale markets. 



The pressure on wholesalers to buy in this way will increase as Bos- 

 ton prices decrease or greater supplies of Maine potatoes are shipped to 

 that market. The local producers can compete under these conditions by 

 providing equal or better quality potatoes at the saine or lower price than 

 Boston wholesale potatoes can be brought to New Hampshire markets. 



With Maine potatoes selling at $1.90 per hundredweight, the trans- 

 portation to Boston at $.47 and from Boston to Keene at $.33, they could 

 be laid down in Keene at $2.70, which is about the average price at whole- 

 sale for 1949. The same potatoes can be shipped from Presque Isle to 

 Boston and from Boston to Portsmouth at $2.66, which is the average price 

 for 1949 in that market. 



If the Maine potatoes at $1.90 were shipped by rail direct from Presque 

 Isle to Keene, they could be sold at $2.45, or to Portsmouth at $2.37. Cole- 

 brook potatoes at $2.15^ could be shipped by rail to Keene at $2.61 or by 

 truck at $2.69, and to Portsmouth at $2.59 and $2.68, both in excess of the 

 delivered Maine potato prices. 



The sum total of these comparisons is that Maine potatoes can be 

 profitably delivered and sold on New Hampshire markets. Considering 

 the distance which these potatoes must travel and the consequent trans- 

 portation and handling charges over and above the farm price, we may 

 question why potatoes that are produced closer to the markets should not 

 maintain a certain monopoly position based upon their locational advantage 

 aione. 



^A support price differential of $.25 existed in December 1949. See following section, 



14 



