The Idaho Republican., 1915-06-25
Some More
About Handl-
ing Potatoes
Editor of The Idaho Republican:

] We note in your issue of June 4
!, a reprint of an article from the Kim
,berly Call. Your article being under
the caption, Solving the Problem:
Grower Gets Short End"
] This article shows that the editor
has given the matter considerable
Thought. In fact, we have had con-
siderable correspondence with him
from this office over this subject. We
agree with him that the ultimate
aim of cooperation is to make the
nearest possible cut from the pro-
3ducer to the consumer. We have his
own confession, however, in another
article that this cannot be done at
this time in its entirety.
| We received communication last
season from the editor of the Call
advocating this in an article which
proposed that we cut out, not only
the wholesaler and broker, but the
retailer. We at once called attention
to the fact that we had at that time
| 500 cars rolling and in order to sell
F., to the retailer we must necessarily
ipay our own freight. This item alone
would require 100000 to finance
before we could begin to get one dol
lar in. He agreed with us that the
same was impossible at the present
,, time,
We have been trying the Chicago
markets in retail way to some ex-
tent this season and the growers who
have had to wait for their potatoes
to be retailed have invariably become
very impatient on account of delayel
returns. For instance; one man from
your own town shipped on 40c
smarket, we sold his potatoes by re-
tail at 75c and still he is anything
but satisfied because of the fact that
the potatoes were taken into a ware
house, re-assorted and he had three
or four months wait before they
were sold out, and he was able to
get his returns. For this reason we
wish to inform anyone holding this
idea that our greatest obstacle which
has been given to the producer him
self, which, like very foolish man,
he thinks is right, for SO many years
that, by his attitude, he demands, a
middleman who will carry the load
from the time the produce is shipped
to the time it is eaten, also cover
the storage charges and all losses.
The middleman in order to do this,
of course, must have handsome pro-
tit,
The portion of this article, how
ever, to which we wish to call atten-
ton is the second paragraph which
reads "A potato grower of Kim
berly lately shipped two cars Of the
tubers through the association. After
paying for his sacks, freight, ETC., he
received net return of IS per car"
The little word "etc.," abbreviated
as it was in this case covers vast
multitude of unmentioned expenses
We have written our manager at
Kimberly asking for the particulars
governing this case, and find that the
"etc.," not only covers freight and
sacks, but the rent on the land and
must have included the digging, cul-
tivation, cost of seed, cost of the
labor, and may be the construction
of the road over which the potatoes
were hauled. The account there
shows that he paid $50 for sacks,
$24.72 charge for constructing cell
Ter. $1S.54 handling charge, and re-
,ceived a balance of $101.66 cash
from his local.
There was another man at Kim
,berly early in the season who also
made claim that he only received
1897 a car for his potatoes. The writer
was billed to appear at a meeting
there and invited the gentleman to
be present; whereupon it developed
that he had given the bank an order
on his returns for couple of hund-
dollars and had taken care OF other
obligations in the same way, and in
reality did receive but $37 cash after
these orders were paid by the local
office.
The man who shipped this car was
a renter and claims that SIS car
was all he received from the land
lord. He did not explain, however,
what all he may have owed the land
lord for, in the way Of seed, land and
may be groceries for all we know.
/ hope you will give this the same
prominence in your paper that you
did the very strong mis-representa-
tion above referred to.
BY way Of passing, we note that
our check covering first payment on
these cars amounted to $195.76;