6 The Colorado Experiment, Station. 
Colorado Yields Compared With Other States. —One half more 
potatoes per acre are shown by Table I, to be produced annually in 
Colorado than in any of the great potato states mentioned. These 
averages cover the whole state, not only the irrigated parts but a 
large area in eastern Colorado that does not, and never can be 
expected to produce the highest yields. 
Money Value Per Acre. —Yields per acre do not necessarily 
mean high money values. Table 2 shows that Colorado not only 
produces a high average yield of potatoes, but that the value per 
acre is also more than in any of the states mentioned. 
Net Profit. —Again, yields per acre, or values per acre, do not 
always mean net gains. The cost of growing must be taken into 
consideration as well as the gross income. In Colorado, by far the 
greater proportion of the crop is grown by irrigation and it may be 
claimed that this increases the cost. This is true, but the cost is 
much more than offset by the fact that practically no fertilizer for 
growing this crop in Colorado is needed, and that in a large part of 
the state no spraying is done for either fungus diseases or insect 
pests. In fact, these two items alone, in many cases, cost more 
per acre in some of the great potato producing states than the total 
cost of production in Colorado. 
Native Home of the Potato. —While the potato is a native of 
the tropics, its habitat is at a high altitude. By far the greater 
part of the potatoes grown in the United States are produced along 
the northern border and few are produced in the south. 
Potato Prices, North and South. —East year the price of pota¬ 
toes in Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and other northern states 
was less than fifty cents per bushel when potatoes were from $1.00 
to $1.10 per bushel in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Texas. 
Colorado’s Favored Position. —Colorado is practically half way 
between the producing and consuming regions. This gives the 
growers a great advantage over their competitors in these high 
priced markets. The northern states have the cool climate which 
adapts them to potato growing, because of their high latitude. Colo¬ 
rado, because of its high altitude, has practically the same summer 
climate as far as temperature goes. 
Dryness and Sunshine. —The northern states have, with their 
cool climate, a tendency toward humidity and cloudiness that Colo¬ 
rado does not have, and as sunshine is a most essential thing in 
plant growth, Colorado has a considerable advantage in this respect. 
