242 



The Potato 



for the farmer to market the larger part of his crop at once 

 than for him to store it. Occasionally, however, the stor- 

 age of potatoes becomes very profitable. 



In 1914, with a crop of over 400,000,000 bushels, the 

 price of potatoes dropped during the winter. In 1915, 

 when weather conditions were unfavorable, and the crop 

 suffered badly in storage, prices went up rapidly during 

 the winter. The winter of 1915-1916 was one in which 

 stored potatoes of good quality brought a high price. The 

 following table of estimated values a bushel, taken from 

 the United States Government Monthly Crop Reports, 

 shows the range in price a bushel during the seasons men- 

 tioned : 



.Table XVII 



Crop Reports op 



June 



August 



September 



October 



November 



January 



March . 



April 



71.3 

 87.1 

 74.9 

 64.7 

 52.8 

 49.7 

 50.4 

 47.8 



Marketing the crop 



The methods of marketing the potato crop may be 

 simple, or they may become complicated, requiring several 

 handlings and the services of a number of persons. 



Probably the simplest method of marketing the crop is 

 for the farmer to sell directly to the consumer, either haul- 



