496 THE POTATO 



potato ! bug, until that decree was annulled on 

 October 15, 1910, opening the French markets to 

 potatoes from the United States, provided they are 

 clean, free from the soil in which they were grown, 

 and the packages in which they are shipped con- 

 tain no stems or leaves of the potato plant. 



"As a result of this long prohibition American 

 potatoes are practically unknown in France, and 

 French importers have no acquaintance or es- 

 tablished relations with American exporters which 

 would enable the trade to be promptly taken up 

 since the withdrawal of the prohibitory decree. 

 Partly for this reason, and partly because many 

 French people have still a lingering dread of some 

 possible disease in American potatoes and do not 

 even know that the prohibition against them has 

 been withdrawn, they have not yet appeared in 

 any appreciable quantity on the Paris market. 



"Meanwhile several letters have been received 

 at this consulate from American shippers who are 

 prepared to offer potatoes to French importers. 

 A careful investigation of the situation has been 

 made, and the names of American exporters given 

 to leading French commission merchants and 

 dealers in potatoes, who have been thus enabled to 

 send direct propositions to the parties who are 

 seeking a market for American potatoes in France. 



"The principal mart of the wholesale potato 

 trade in Paris is at the great Central Markets (Les 

 Halles) and the busy streets in their immediate 

 neighborhood. The one recognized wholesale 

 unit or weight or measure for potatoes is the met- 

 ric quintal of 100 kilos, equal to 220 pounds avoir- 

 dupois, and American merchants seeking to find a 

 market here should base their propositions on that 

 unit instead of bushels, bags, or barrels. 



