i8 
Colorado Agricultural College 
placed in storage, the small and bruised potatoes should be elimin¬ 
ated. 
In digging the potatoes, enough horse-power should be utilized 
so that the digger will get under the hills—otherwise, many pota¬ 
toes will be cut and spoiled. It is much more economical to use 
an extra horse, or even two, SO' as to be able to> have 
the machine go to the required depth. The extra cost is more than 
repaid, first, in getting all the potatoes out of the ground, and sec¬ 
ond, in eliminating cut or bruised tubers which cannot be sold. Prac¬ 
tically all of the potato digging machinery now on the market is 
satisfactory, if properly used. We do not recommend any par¬ 
ticular make over others. 
GRADING (Standardization) 
Less attention has been paid to the grading and standardizing 
of potatoes than any other agricultural crop. Most of the agricul¬ 
tural products are bought and sold on grades or standards, while 
in the case of potatoes, each grower seems to* establish his own 
standard, and, as a consequence, the purchaser does not know what 
he is getting until he has an opportunity of inspecting his purchase. 
There is more waste in this crop than any other grown on the farm, 
and this waste could be entirely prevented by the grower. It has 
been estimated that from 15% to 20% of the total potato crop 
placed on the market is below commercial standards and should 
never have left the farm. This would mean that out of the total 
yield of 350000,000 bushels in America, 15%, or 52,500,000 
bushels are virtually thrown away. Besides this waste, the grower, 
in addition, is paying for containers, railroad freight, and hauling 
and cost of marketing in handling these 52,500,000 bushels, and 
finally, he is lowering the actual value of the whole crop, by selling 
inferior products. It is a great economic loss, since this 15% is 
not utilized for any purpose, but is thrown away by the consumers, 
while if left on the farm it could be utilized as a food for livestock. 
There should be a standard grade or grades of potatoes the same 
as we have standard grades for the grains, and the crop should be 
priced on these standards. In order to accomplish this, the grower 
must pay more attention to' the grading side of his work. At 
present, most of the potatoes are graded in the field, being run over 
a grading machine. The machine, under the best conditions, will 
not grade the potatoes properly, but under the conditions that the 
grading is done in order to' follow up the digger, the potatoes are 
poured over the grader and only a small proportion of the under¬ 
sized potatoes are taken out. More than half of the small tubers 
go into the sacks, together with gnarly, cut, and diseased tubers. 
