Markets, Marketing and Storage 245 



bagged or put in barrels for shipment. Occasionally a 

 farmer will insist that his potatoes be sold without being 

 sorted before shipment. These are sorted in the city 

 and the culls are thrown out. The grower gets nothing 

 for the culls and he must pay the expense of freight on 

 them. 



Grading 



Potatoes are poorly graded, and for this reason the cost 

 of marketing is higher than in the case of goods which are 

 classified by grades. Potatoes of several varieties are usu- 

 ally raised in the same section, and it is often hard to fill a 

 car with only one variety. Experienced potato-shippers 

 sort and grade carefully and get a higher price a bushel 

 than is ordinarily paid. One produce exchange in Vir- 

 ginia has so standardized its potatoes that wholesalers 

 order by wire, without seeing the goods. Sorting and grad- 

 ing on the farm, or at least before loading on the cars, not 

 only makes it possible to secure a higher price for the pota- 

 toes, but reduces the cost of marketing as well. The 

 farmer ultimately pays the cost of grading, and often after 

 he has paid the freight on as much as a ton of dirt and 

 culls. 



Packages 



Early potatoes are usually shipped in three-bushel 

 barrels, covered with canvas, or in bushel boxes. The 

 barrels, w^ith covers, cost about 20 cents apiece. Bushel 

 boxes — 13 X 16 X 13 inches deep — cost about $30 

 a hundred. Seed potatoes are frequently shipped in 

 double-headed barrels of 165 pounds capacity. These 

 cost about 30 cents each. 



