CHAPTER XIV 



PRODUCTION, TRANSPORTATION, AND 

 MARKETS 



IN the North the potato is a quasi-staple product. 

 It can be kept a number of months in storage. In the 

 South, except in cold storage, it cannot be kept long 

 and is purely a garden-truck crop, but its culture is 

 extending. 



2,836,196 farmers grew potatoes in 1899. The area 

 was 2,938,952 acres, and the yield 273, 328, 207 bushels, 

 valued at $98,387,614. The average value of the 

 product per acre was $33.48, that of all crops was 

 $10.04, while that of all vegetables was $42.09 per 

 acre. The price per bushel varied between 22 cents 

 in Iowa and Nebraska to $1.10 in Arizona, the 

 average price being 36 cents. The average yield l per 

 acre in the year 1879 was 96.7 bushels; in 1889, 83.6 

 bushels, and in 1899, 93 bushels per acre, although 

 yields of 300 and 400 bushels are common, and over 

 800 bushels have been obtained. 



In 1900 six States grew 51 per cent, of the potatoes 

 (Figs. 47, 48) viz., New York, Wisconsin, Michi- 

 gan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Minnesota while Ohio, 

 Illinois, Maine, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, 

 and California grew 25 per cent. more. The sandy 

 pine belt region, skirting the lakes, has shown a phe- 

 nomenal increase in potato production. In Maine, 



1 Consult Twelfth Census Report 1902. 



153 



