The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-08-14
PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL.
The New Potato Crop Coming into
Market..An Interesting Talk with
the Man ON the Market.


ket now?" asked an ARGUS reporter of a
well informed buyer on the market this
morning.
mo, not as much as | should like to
see, but you see the farmers are very busy
just now with their threshing and hay
making and find but little time to come
into the city. Next month the town will
be full of them"
"How's the potato crop?"
''The early potatoes are good. The
first load of the season came in yesterday
and sold quickly for twenty cents per
bushel. am informed by the farmers
generally that the early crop, such as Early
Rose, etc, are splendid both as to guam
tity and quality. The trouble is, however,
the farmers on this side of the river do
not cultivate enough of this kind of stuff.
They raise too much corn and smaller
grain. The acreage of corn is especially
large inRock Island county. You hardly
ever see farmer with less than forty
acres of corn, and they frequently run as
high as seventyfive and one hundred.
Small grain, especially wheat, is a COM
parative failure in Illinois. The corn
crop is the main hold"
While am fully aware that there are
quite number of farmers who raise
potatoes and few also who raise onions,
there are a number who no not to any
extent who should for several reasons.
First, potatoes are just as easily planted,
taking all things into consideration, as
corn is. 1t does not cost any more labor
nor money to cultivate field of potatoes
than it does corn, and the risk of losing
it by wind storms is not nearly SO great
The labor of gathering the potato crop is
not as expensive, and surely not more
laborious than gathering the corn crop.
Now, having arrived at these conclusions
we will turn to the crop as it appears for
sale on the market. If a field of corn
averages fifty bushels per acre-that is
represents that average as it is hauled to
market for sale it is doing well. The
average farmer sells for fifty cents per
bushel, that is S25 per acre Well, now
a crop of potatoes will often average 800
bushels per acre, but for the sake of ar
gument we will say that the average is
$50 bushels, these at the low price of
twenty Gently cents would bring in the sum
of $40, or $40 more per acre than does
the corn"
How about the condition Of the
ground after each crop?" quered the
scribe. LAS far as the condition of the
ground. so far the productiveness is con
cerned, there can not be much difference.
One thing is sure there is no trouble in
the springtime with the ground on which
potatoes are raised, no cOan stalks to be
cut down and bothered with. Another
thing the farmers of this county don't
raise enough onions There is always a
good market in the south for onions.
Look at the way the farmers of Scott
county Iowa, are raising and shipping
them. There are more potatoes and
onions raised and disposed of in Scott
county in one season than in Rock Island
county in three, verify believe. The
farmers of that section are not bothered
in hauling corn over bad roads in the
winter time. LCok at the way they are
shipping onions now The potato season
will soon be in full blast over there. The
only onions we have had in this city
city this season to speak of, came from
Scott county. There was load from
Duck creek yesterday that sold quickly
and at good price. Yes sir, the farmers
of this county can make more cash out of
their lands by raising products of the
above nature than by devoting their
whole time and attention to raising corn,
and | expect to see the day when they will
be doing so"
The man on the market turned to a
customer at this point, and the in terroga-
ton point moved down the street.