May, 1929] Potato Production Costs in New Hampshire 25 



TABLE XX. 

 Method and Season of Marketing Potatoes. 1927. 



Disposal Methods 



The method of disposal of the potato crop has much to do with 

 its handling- in storage. In 1926 there were three g'raders in Coos 

 and Grafton Counties. In 1927 there were eight. In Merrimack 

 and Rockingham Counties there were two in 1926 and six in 1927. 

 In the rest of the sta'e there were four in 1926 and six in 1927. 

 When selling at the car door the usual practice is to haul "bin run" 

 and to have the entire crop run over the rack at the car. Many 

 growers, however, sort to a limited extent and save the long- haul 

 on a large quantity of seconds and culls. 



Wherever disposal is direct to the retail trade or to a retailer, 

 sorting is done at the farm. Under these conditions particularly, 

 the better and more uniform grade made possible with a grader 

 compared to rack sorting would warrant an investment in a grader 

 where the other operations are on a scale large enough to warrant 

 special potato machinery, even though there were no savings in la- 

 bor. Where good sorting is done one man can rack by hand at the 

 rate of 50 to 75 bushels a day. With a machine grader a crew of 

 three men can grade 400 to 600 bushels a day. 



Sorting is a variable factor depending on the method of har- 

 vesting and marketing, and the time of marketing. 



With the disposal of the crop primarily to retail trade the ne- 

 cessity for some efficient means of grading is apparent. (Table 

 XX.) With the long uphill hauls common in Coos County it would- 

 seem advisable to sort at the farm, hauling only good stock to the 

 car and with a return load, if possible, of some needed farm 

 supplies. 



