Markets, Marketing and Storage 241 



It will be seen that there is an average difference in price 

 for a bushel on December 1st and March 1st of only 3 

 cents. The question which then suggests itself is "Does 

 it pay the farmer to store potatoes over winter ? " 



When we compare the prices obtained for a bushel on 

 December 1st and March 1st, it would seem that the 

 farmer loses money by storing his potatoes. Surely the 

 difference of 3 cents a bushel does not begin to cover the 

 extra cost of storage nor the extra shrinkage and loss 

 through rotting. Why not sell all the potatoes at digging 

 time, or at least before January 1st? There are several 

 very good reasons for this. 



In the first place, it would be very difficult for the dealers 

 to handle the whole crop of potatoes in the fall. They 

 lack the warehouse room and the help to take care of all 

 the crop at one time. Dealers would be swamped with 

 potatoes for a short time, and then have no more to handle 

 for a long time. Secondly, there is a shortage of rail- 

 road cars in the fall, and it would be impossible to ship the 

 whole crop at one time. Then, too, the farmer is pressed 

 for time in the fall and can use his teams to better advan- 

 tage than in hauling potatoes. He can better afford to 

 cart potatoes in the winter, when there is less to be done. 



Probably the principal reason for not selling the whole 

 crop in the fall is the automatic lowering of prices which 

 follows an attempt to market too many potatoes at that 

 time. The dealers in potatoes will take only so many 

 bushels in the fall, and any sold above this quantity are 

 sold at a constantly decreasing figure. By storing part 

 of his crop, the farmer equalizes the distributing of it on 

 the market and gets a better net return than he would 

 by selling all shortly after digging. 



If prices hold up in the fall, it will probably be better 



