Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1895-09-05
POTATO NOW IS KING.
Farmers Beginning to Realize that
There Is Money I'm Tubers.

Incfc le money III IuocTss
The potato has at last taken rank as
king among the tillers of the soil. For
years Secretary of Agriculture Morton
has been appealing to the farmers of the
United States to grow potatoes, as he be-
lieved that they would be their salvation.
They have finally taken his advice, and
now they are beginning 10 realize that
they will profit by planting more ground
TO the tubers instead of wheat and corn.
There is at all times steady demand for
them, and they are quite as staple as
wheat and not subject to the fluctuations
of the latter. With the low price Of wheat
and corn the farmers have looked about
for some more profitable crop and investi-
cation shows that the United States has
never produced enough potatoes for home
consumption. Thousands of bushels are
bought in foreign markets every year and
if there is profit for powers abroad, with
small areas to devote to the crop and the
additional expense of ocean freight rates,
there ought to be money in the business
for the farmers in this country, who have
larger tracts Of land and cheaper freight
rates. The imports for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1894, were 3,022,5
bushels, of the value of nearly 81 ,250,-
0O0
Last year 2,I37 ,973 acres were devoted
to this crop, and that was an increase over
the year before of $1,000 acres. The pro-
duct of 1894, on account of an unfavor-
able season, was 2,246,OOO bushels short
of the year before, Notwithstanding the in
creased acreage. But in measuring the
popularity of the potato as an article of
farm product, the product is scarcely
worthy of consideration. for the increase
in the area of land devoted to the crop is
plainly the index of its popularity. All
the evidence available indicates that there
are now 100000 acres of potatoes grow
ing in the United States. The fact that
there has been steadily decreasing acre
age of wheat rye, barley. oats and corn.
which continues this year. is considered
by the Secretary of Agricultur" To indicate
an increased acreage of potatoes and other
substantial small products.
New York has steadily led all the other
States as Il potato producer. Last year
3TS, 12S acres of land were devoted to the
crop in New York, and the product, aggre-
eating over 20,0O0,OO0 bushels, was sold
for half as many million dollars. Michi-
gan was second, with 215,2IO acres and
product of over 13,0OO,O 900 bushels which
brought the growers nearly S6,O0OO0O.
Pennsylvania was third. with 206,S79
acres, which produced almost the exact
number of bushels produced by Michigan,
though the acreage was vastly less than
Michigan's. The acreage in Ohio was in
round numbers the same as that in Penn
sylvana, and the aggregate of the crop
was the same within few thousand bush
els, showing that both Pennsylvania and
Ohio raised a larger crop than Michigan
with less acreage. The other big potato
growing States are Iowa. Illinois, Wiscon-
sin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Kansas. in
the order named. Iowa had 116G05 acres
last year; Kansas. 1OS,213. The aggre-
gate of acreage gradually decreases from
Iowa to Kansas, excepting that Illinois
and Wisconsin had almost the same acre
age-that is. about 10000. While Mis-
souri,, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jer-
sey, Virginia, Kentucky, South Dakota,
Colorado, and a half-doZen other States
are good potato growers and have large
acreage, none Of them approached 100000
acres last year, and in nearly all of them
less than 10000 acres of land was devoted
to potatoes