COSTS AND FARM PRACTICES IX PRODUCING POTATOES. 
9 
It will be observed in Figure 1 that large potato-producing 
areas are relatively near the most densely populated sections. The 
greatest number of large cities are located north of the latitude 39° 
and east of the ninety-seventh meridian. The most important 
potato-producing sections are also located within these limits, 
rotatoes constitute a bulky and perishable product, so that long 
hauls on railroads are not always profitable. Similarly, farms 
located long distances from the shipping station are seriously handi- 
capped with high marketing costs. 
COSTS AND PRACTICES IN 1919 ON SPECIFIC FARMS. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS. 
It has been pointed out that factors affecting the cost of pro- 
ducing a bushel of potatoes in different parts of the country vary 
Fig. 5. — Nine counties in the areas of heaviest production were selected for study, together represent- 
ing the conditions and practices prevailing in the production of potatoes over most of the northern 
humid regions. 
considerably. Detailed costs and farm practices involved in potato 
production in nine different areas were studied in 1919 in order to 
show the effect of these differences. About 50 farmers were visited 
in each of these nine areas in the course of collecting the data pre- 
sented in the following pages. The data apply to the crop year 1919. 
The areas studied are located in the following counties and States: 
Clay and 'Anoka Counties, Minn.; Barron and Waupaca Counties, 
Wis.; Grand Traverse and Montcalm Counties, Mich.; Monroe and 
Steuben Counties, N. Y. ; and Aroostook County, Me. (See fig. 5.) 
CLIMATIC CONDITIONS. 
The precipitation for the months of the growing season, 1919, is 
shown in Table 3. The deviation of the 1919 rainfall from the 
normal was considerable in a few of the areas for some months. The 
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