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MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 240 



prices, or should the present lower prices of fertilizer result in increased 

 yields of potatoes in competing areas, Massachusetts growers who could not 

 or did not adopt similar methods would find themselves at a disadvantage. 



At the present time the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture and various other agencies are making 

 extensive studies of supply and demand and probable future prices of various 

 crops and livestock. The Bureau publishes an Agricultural Outlook report 

 early in February which states the probable outlook for farm commodities 

 for the coming year. This is supplemented by the Intentions to Plant report 

 in March and by other special reports at other times. The New England 

 Research Council also publishes an Outlook in February which more fully 

 covers the New England situation. With tliis knowledge available the farmer 

 has the task of adjusting his production practices to make a ])rofit, or of 

 turning to other crop or livestock enterprises. 



The average Massachusetts potato grower generally has a farm price which 

 is from 40 to 60 cents per bushel higher than the farm price in Maine because 

 of differences in freight and handling charges. 



Table 1. — Potatoes: Estimated Price in Cents per Bushel Received by 

 Producers on Dec. 1. Average 1921-1925, Annual 1921-1926.a 



a U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1926. 



Table 1 gives the December 1 farm price of potatoes in Massachusetts and 

 Maine, and the difference is in favor of Massachusetts in each year. It will 

 be seen that the average Massachusetts grower has a very wide margin of 

 price advantage. It is true, however, that there are many growers who are 

 not "average," whose local prices may be different or who may live at some 

 distance from the market. Some growers have special local outlets and are 

 able to obtain higher prices by careful grading. Whether these advantages 

 are sufficient to overcome the effect of lower yields, higher amounts of labor 

 used, and other disadvantages, must be worked out by individual growers in 

 Massachusetts for their particular situations. 



The Areas Studied. 



This study is directed primarily at the cost side of the potato problem. How 

 much labor do Massachusetts farmers put into growing potatoes? How much 

 seed and fertilizer do they use? Are they taking advantage of specialized 

 machinery? In what ways can their practices be improved? Data are pre- 

 sented showing the amounts of man labor and materials used in producing 

 potatoes on 54 farms in four areas in Massachusetts during 1926. They are 

 taken from records secured by personally visiting 13 or 14 farms in each lo- 

 cality. The farms studied are located as indicated in Figure 2, which also 

 shows the average number of days between killing frosts. The first area is 



