438 FIELD CROPS 



harrowing, seed, cutting and treating seed, planting, fertili- 

 zers, cultivation, weeding, spraying, digging, picking, haul- 

 ing, storing, sorting, machinery cost, and land rental. 



573. Prices. There is a greater variation in the prices 

 obtained for potatoes than for most of the other general farm 

 crops, due to the fact that the surplus of one season cannot 

 be carried over to the next. There is also a great variation 

 in price during the same year in different sections of the 

 United States, owing to the bulkiness of the crop and the 

 cost of handling and transporting from one place to another. 

 The average farm price for potatoes in the Unites States 

 for the ten years from 1901 to 1910, inclusive, was 58.6 cents 

 per bushel. The average price in Texas for the same ten 

 years was 99 cents; in South Carolina, $1.06; in Florida, 

 $1.18; and in New Mexico, 93 cents. 



In this connection it may be noted that the states where 

 such high prices prevail are those which grow very small 

 acreages and produce comparatively low yields, and that all 

 of these states ship in potatoes rather than have a surplus to 

 ship out. During the forty-six years, 1866-1911, the high- 

 est average farm price in the United States on December 1 

 was 79.9 cents, in 1911; the lowest was 26.6 cents, in 

 1895. The average acre value for potatoes in the United 

 States for the ten years 1902-1911, inclusive, was $54.68. 

 The highest acre values of the potato crop are found in the 

 West. The average farm value in Nevada for the ten years 

 mentioned was $119.46 per acre, and for all of the Far 

 Western states was $78.76 per acre. The lowest value per 

 acre was in South Dakota, the average being $40.01. 



574. Exports and Imports. The United States is still 

 an importing nation; that is, ordinarily there are not quite 

 as many potatoes produced as are used. The average an- 

 nual exports for the ten years, 1900-1909, were 926,000 bush- 



