The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1917-03-02
COOPERATION IN THE
SELLING OF POTATOES


: toes should have some system fol-
: marketing their products. 1t has
: often been stated that they would
, ultimately be forced to adopt system
7 or go out of the potato business II
, appears now that they may not only
not be forced to do anything of the
kind for while but that they can
! make money on potatoes even if
they have no system at all, but that
!, If they had worked out the system
J in former years they could all be
} buying diamonds in these, the fat
years.
AS has often been stated Before,
the potatoes bring the best prices
when they are graded according to
an accepted standard, and it is i'm
possible to ship potatoes to distant
markets and not make heavy losses
when there is no system for routing
them.
Dealers have been advising and
furnishing object lessons for years,
regarding the manner in which mar
kets are glutted now and again and
in state of famine between times.
When there is scarcity of potatoes
in a given city, the price goes up,
and dealers there engage few cars
at good price. The information
gets out that potatoes are in demand
there at good prices, and dealers in
hundred towns may bill some cars
to that point. BY the time the cars
arrive that were first engaged, the
| dealers there who have bought, learn
| that their competitors across the
block are being offered plenty of po-
tatoes at a lower price, and that
there are scores of cars on the road
nearly due, and it will be impossible
to dispose of all they have bought
before the glut comes, and upon
some pretext they refuse even what
they have engaged Then follows
loss of time, demurrage on many car
loads, spoilage due to lack of proper
ventilation, shipping them out to
other cities with the freight bills
growing larger, and eventually
large or perhaps total loss to the
shippers.
Any organization that can success
fully take the measure of the demand
and supply, and then keep in touch
with them and keep them operating
in harmony can prevent the losses
and maintain reasonable prices under
all conditions. In order to do this
it will be necessary for all the dis
tr1cts that grow potatoes, to estab-
fish some means of giving advance
information as to their supply, and
to fix the responsibility for correct
sorting and grading.
Of all the different methods en-
ployed or tried for sorting and grad
ing potatoes, the most effective seems
to be the mechanical sorter that can
be operated in the warehouse of the
dealer, so they can be put thru the
warehouse and sorter and shipped
in condition that s well under
stood by the person taking the re-
sponsibility.
1t is not considered practical to
40 the final sorting and grading in
the fields excepting in fine weather
when there is no danger of frosted
potatoes getting into the sacks I'm
less there is large tract of potatoes,
1t is not generally considered worth
while by the farmer, to install the
proper equipment to do really effec-
tive sorting and grading in the field.
In frosty weather it is absolutely
necessary for the potatoes to have
time to develop the sappy places that
have been affected by the frost, and
holding them day or two in the
warehouse affords this. Not many
men consider it practical to have a
central plant for sorting and grad
ing potatoes after they have once
been put on the cars. Idaho pota-
toes have been handled in this way
In other states where they were I'M
loaded, sorted and graded and re-
shipped, eliminating much dirt and
damage stock after having paid
freight on it for a 1000 miles. If
it is worth while to do it under such
a handicap, it could be done to bet
ter advantage within 10 or 20 miles
of where the potatoes were raised.
BY having large battery of sorters ,,
all operated by one power supply,
and all potatoes handled on gravity :
system so far as possible. 1t would 1
require but little time to unload and
grade trainlOad and have them GO
ing again, and such an institution
WOULD be able to operate starch
factory with the refuse. The grad
ing could be made so absolutely uni
form that orders for any size in any
quantity desired could so readily be
filled, it should give a tremendous
advantage in marketing when the in
,titution became well known. 1t
would need to have capacity for both
storage and grading on a large scale.
One very expensive feature of
handling potatoes in this valley is
hat everything is put into sacks for
Zach haul. In some parts of the
they are hauled loose in
wagons to the warehouse and shovel I
I'd into the bins or on the conveyors
which are in belt form and there
ire defectors at intervals to guide
hem into any desired bins. After
icing seasoned and graded they are
hen weighed into seeks of standard
ize. and allowance made for shrink
.ge SO that each sack can be de-
'ended on to weigh the amount it
s billed at when it reaches the mar
let. All they have to do at any
lace where they are handled is to
Il.