12 BULLETIN 1388, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 6. — Average prices obtained by farmers visited, 1921 and 1922 
Crop 
Unit 
Price obtained 
1921 
1922 
Ton 
$20 00 
4.28 
8.85 
1.05 
15.81 
6.00 
$11 00 
do .. 
9 15 
...do... 
14 67 
Wheat 
1.03 
Ton ... 
9 34 
do 
7.50 
Table 7.- 
-Potatoes: Specified average prices received by farmers visited, number of 
sales, and quantity sold 1 
1921 
1922 
Average price received per ton 
Number 
of sales 
Total 
tons sold 
Number 
of sales 
Total 
tons sold 
$30andover ... .. . .... . ... . 
8 
11 
30 
21 
24 
4 
492 
813 
1, 753 
1,226 
848 
162 
$25to$29 . . . . 
$20 to $24 
8 
13 
50 
35 
7 
231 
$15to$19 
825 
$10 to $14 
$5 to $9 
2,711 
2, 165 
226 
Total 
98 
5, 294 
113 
6, 158 
1 One farmer sold no potatoes from the 1921 crop and 14 reported no sales from potatoes grown in 1922. 
These are not included in the table. 
A knowledge of what becomes of the product after it leaves the 
farm, the competition from other areas, and the kind and quality of 
products desired by the public all help the farmer to remove "guesses" 
when he plans the selection and adjustment of his farm enterprises. 
POTATOES 
Potatoes are produced abundantly and economically in the Yakima 
Valley. Even in 1919, when the potato acreage was exceedingly 
low in this area, Yakima County was credited with having 13.4 per 
cent of the State potato acreage. The yield was 205 bushels per 
acre, compared with the State average of 106 bushels. The ideal 
soil and climatic conditions for potato production in this area is very 
encouraging to high-pressure production, especially following years 
of good potato prices. 
Fair yields of late potatoes are produced over a large part of the 
United States. Because of this fact and the fact that potatoes will 
usually buy but a comparatively small amount of transportation, it 
is not surprising to find that the large surplus potato-producing areas 
are located as near as possible to the centers of population. This is 
illustrated in Figure 6, which shows the relative production of late 
potatoes in excess of 3 bushels per capita, by States, for the year 
1923. The State prices for the same year are also given. With 
such a large area on which potatoes can be grown it is not difficult 
to understand why potato acreages and prices are very elastic and 
tend to fluctuate widely from year to year. 
