POTATOES 113 



parishes between Mainfleet and Surfleet (a distance of 

 about twenty-five miles) is under potatoes; and how 

 he himself now farms 1,600 acres, of which 800 acres 

 are planted with potatoes, while he buys, by acre or 

 ton, the produce of another 800 acres in the district. 

 These figures will convey some idea to the reader of the 

 great expansion the industry has undergone. 



Lincolnshire is, in fact, the premier county in Great 

 Britain in regard to potato production, which is carried 

 on to such an extent throughout the Eastern counties 

 that the Great Eastern Railway Company alone bring 

 to London on an average from 97,000 to 100,000 tons 

 of potatoes a year, a ' record ' for one especially favour- 

 able season being 123,000 tons. The potato traffic 

 handled by the Great Northern Railway Company 

 who provide at the rear of King's Cross Station a 

 commodious and well-arranged potato market, which 

 represents a great convenience to the dealers is 

 approximately the same. 



Lincolnshire's acreage under potatoes was returned 

 in 1904 as 76,249, with an estimated total production 

 of 416,417 tons, the next largest county being Lancaster, 

 which had an acreage of 44,665, and an estimated total 

 production of 380,239 tons. But these particular figures 

 will hardly appeal to the public imagination so much 

 as the fact that from the aforesaid station at Kirton 

 there have been sent away by rail in a single day no 

 fewer than 95 waggon-loads of potatoes. Giving 

 an average loading of 3 tons per waggon, the 95 

 waggons would represent a total despatch of 285 tons 

 of potatoes in one day from one country station. This 

 was a * record ' rather than a normal condition, the 

 average for an ordinary busy day being 50 waggons, or 

 150 tons. Potatoes naturally move in truck-load lots ; 

 but, as showing the amount of work involved in handling 



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