Arizona republican., 1917-12-31
DEFENSE COUNCIL URGES ALL TO USE
 FLAGSTAFF SPUDS

Now is the time for all patriotic American citizens to eat potatoes. Now is the time for all loyal Aneri- cans to eat Flagstaff potatoes. This is the two fold potato doctrine of the cooperative extension service of the University of Arizona in the in terest of the loyal farmers of the Flag staff district.
 In answer to this appeal the Arizona Council of Defense urges the Arizona public to make wider use of the Flag staff product on the following grounds: ! | l. The Flagstaff potato, undoubtedly l IS the best potato grown, in point of i flavor, soundness, size and keeping ! quality
 ,. it is an Arizona product and in l l its use the consumer will be following ! I the suggestion of MT. Hoover to buy l home grown products in preference to | | those raised a a distance and thereby l eliminate the WaStage through long l haul.
 g. As a matter of economy. With | l the price of all grades of potatoes the 1 ] lowest in months past, potatoes should 1 now form the heavy portion of every meal thereby cutting down the con- 1 sumption of meats and wheat products. 4. As a patriotic duty to the farmers | of the Flagstaff district, who last sum- mer in response to an appeal from | the Arizona council of defense planted a vast acreage in the Irish tubers as their bit in the preparedness campaign on at that time.
 The fourth is regarded by the exten- sion workers as the strongest point of all. Many will remember the ready and public-spirited response made by hn loe tnf fov went forth last summer: Plant spuds." With climatic and soil conditions pe- culiarly fit for this industry, the Flag staffians went to bat with a will to lower the cost of living and, though labor was scarce and seed potatoes Scarcer, several hundred acres were planted to potatoes
 And now the Flagstaff farmers are ready to market their patriotic crop and they find the demand unpatriotic- ally limp. They have about 300 car loads of the finest tubers ever grown and with no place in particular to ship them, when by all the rules of reason there should be mad scramble on.
 The Flagstaff farmers. according to the University authorities are not after a fancy price. They want to realize from "A to 213 cents pound, depend ing on grade. They will be satisfied, as well as lucky if they get that. They | will be losers if they get less.
 The lack of demand for Flagstaff potatoes in particular and all po- tatoes in general is one of the puzzles in the whOlesalo and retail trade. No potatoes seem to move even at the low rate of s2.75 to S3.25 a hundred, for which the best grades are now selling at Phoenix. By some the situation is laid to the door of the housewife.
 Discussing this phase of the situa- ton the other day, a Phoenix retail dealer had this to say: The consum- ing public is undoubtedly to blame and the slight demand for potatoes at the present time is in reality a sort of psychological phenomenon. It wasn't so long ago that spuds were so scarce and so high in price that they were exhibited in curio shops and jewellery stores and it was during this period that most people began to look upon the erstwhile humble spud as raised to the aristocracy of mocking birds tongues and mock turtle bullion. You would get three very small specimens With serving at restaurant if you paid extra and tipped the waiter. In the homes the potato was entirely for l 6OttNli, hliilC llit IlOuStWlNtS UuSltu themselves with mysterious concotions of rice etcetera- In other words, the American people got out of the habit of using potatoes because they were high. Now that they are. cheap, they do not realize it and that the path is open to effect a material reduction in the cost of living. Good potatoes are the easiest thing in the world to keep at this season of the year and the wonder is that more people do not buy them by the sack as they used tc do.
 From which it will be seen that il is up to the public to help the Flagstaff potato raisers out of the hole. Thi: can be done by insistance on the part of the household buyer upon getting genuine Flagstaff potatoes at a reas. onable price and the cooperation O. the retailer and wholesaler in seeint that the consumer is supplied witl Flagstaff potatoes at a reasonable price. In this connection, however, i should be remembered that the Flag staff potato is the superior qualit, and this together with the fact tha the raisers paid five and six cents pound for their seed entities them to slightly higher price.