16 BULLETIN 695, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
crop. Therefore about 10 per cent of the potato crop is used annually 
for seed and starch making. There is no information concerning the 
quantity or fraction of the erop fed to live stock. As a matter of 
general information, however, the fraction is believed to be very 
small. It appears that if the computed per capita consumption of 
potatoes is diminished by about one-tenth, the remainder will indicate 
closely the per capita consumption of this crop for human food, live- 
stock feed, and waste. After thus making the computation, the 
per capita consumption of potatoes for human food and animal feed, 
with unknown waste, was 3.39 bushels during the 10 years 1905-1914, 
or about 15} bushels per family. This average otherwise expressed 
is equivalent to about 14 pecks per family per week throughout the 
whole year, and for all the families in the United States. For no 
10-year period previous to 1995-1914 has consumption of potatoes 
in this country per capita and per family been as large as the averages 
for this period. 
PERCENTAGE OF PRODUCTION. 
In the 10-year averages the consumption appears to be greater than 
the production and has been so in fact for the reason that in excep- 
tional years, when production has been very deficient, imports have 
relatively largelyincreasedforthesedeficientyears. Inaconsideration 
of the subject year by year, however, it is certain that since 1894 the 
more general fact has been that the consumption has been below the 
production. The difference either way in a consideration by years 
is usually very small both absolutely and relatively. 
During the period 1866-1874 the consumption of potatoes was 99.8 
per cent of the production; in 1885-1894 the consumption was 101.4 
per cent of the production; in the following 10-year period it was 
100.3 per cent; and in 1905-1914 it was 100.4 per cent of the pro- 
duction. In a consideration of this subject by years the percentage 
is more generally a fraction under 99 per cent than it is above 100 
per cent. 
Since a portion of the potato crop is always exported, the con- 
sumption of home-grown potatoes must necessarily be under 100 
per cent of the production. The percentage is almost invariably 
a fraction under 100, and in only one year since 1865 is it as much 
as a fraction below 99 per cent of the crop. 
PERCENTAGE OF THE SUPPLY. 
What has been said under the preceding head concerning the con- 
sumption of potatoes as a percentage of production applies without 
material qualification to the consumption of potatoes as a percentage 
of the supply. During all years the fraction is usually more than ~ 
993 per cent. 
Ab ee 
