PRODUCTION, TRANSPORTATION, MARKETS 157 



The public can consume about three bushels of pota- 

 toes per head per year, and as there were 79,000,000 

 people to be fed, it would require 237,000,000 bushels 

 to furnish this quantity. The shortage of 27,000,000 

 bushels insured a fair price, 61.4 cents per bushel 

 being the average farm value. 



The States having a surplus of potatoes are the 

 Southern and Eastern Coast States (notably Maine, 

 Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida), 

 their market being the cities of the East and interior. 

 The Trans- Mississippi and Nort western States also 

 have a surplus. 



The potato trade is a home trade. The yield is sel- 

 dom more than is required for home consumption, and 

 several times it has been less as in 1902, when over 

 8,000,000 bushels were imported. 



Factors Influencing Farm Prices. Farm prices 

 are the net value of farm products to the producer upon 

 delivery at the local market. Between the grower and 

 the consumer profits must be made by the local buyer, 

 the wholesaler,' the retailer, and perhaps a broker or 

 two, and the transportation companies. To yield a 

 profit to the grower the price received from the con- 

 sumer must exceed (i) the expenses of distribution, 

 including transportation, (2) the cost of production. 

 It may not. The market price is regulated by the law 

 of supply and demand. 



In marketing live stock, cotton, grain, tobacco, and 

 wool the main tendency is to eliminate the expensive 

 middle man. This is easier accomplished with non- 

 perishable products than with perishable ones. There 

 are three reasons why the expensive middle man has 



