THE POTATO 365 



Ames place near Fort Collins the same year) the 

 first potatoes raised on the uplands of Colorado. 



"In the years following 1870 there were in- 

 creasing acres planted around here, principally 

 Early Rose. A little later, Morten Whites (these 

 did not make a good potato; they seemed to be 

 lacking in starch and would not cook soft), a few 

 Peachblows, and some Snow Flakes were planted. 

 The latter were the very best eating potatoes, as, 

 in fact, they are yet, but they did not yield heavily 

 enough to be profitable. 



"In the course of five years or so we had suf- 

 ficient potatoes to sell to make it necessary to do 

 something to market them. I was then employed 

 as clerk in a large store here. We built a ware- 

 house on the railroad track, which stands there 

 yet, and went at the business systematically. I 

 had charge of that department and had to make 

 frequent trips to Denver to sell our stuff. On one 

 of those trips I wrote about a column article de- 

 scribing how we handled potatoes in Greeley 

 took them in loose, sorted, and sacked them our- 

 selves. I published this in the News of Denver. 

 The result was that Greeley * spuds ' got a reputa- 

 tion that was of value. 



"In the year 1881 1 went into business for my- 

 self. A part of this business was the handling of 

 potatoes, which by this time had become an in- 

 dustry of larger dimensions and kept increasing 

 every year. In the season of 1886 a number of 

 business men and bankers concluded that the po- 

 tato business had become so large that it was nec- 

 essary to organize the selling end, so that we could 

 extend our markets. To that end, the Greeley 

 Mercantile Company was organized with a capital 

 of $40,000. Mr. O. P. Gale was president and I 



