The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1918-12-24
MARVELLOUS POTATO
SORTING MACHINE
CONTINUED from page one)


In this way four men can load .
10000 pound car in Is minutes.
Some of the things which thought
full men Of the community have beer
trying to do for years is to get pc
tatoes properly sorted and graded
and to get everybody's potatoe.
treated alike and everybody's pota
toes sorted alike for the markets
Where every man grades his OWL
potatoes the tendency is to put II
all the doubtful ones and the tend
ency further is for a man to keeI
putting in poorer potatoes every sue
ceeding hour in the day and it II
impossible to have any standard
maintained on that account. Under
the old system where every mar
sorted and graded his potatoes, pc.
tatoes from two different farms may
be loaded into one car and the prod.
uct of one farm may have been very
we'll sorted while the other was in
bad condition, When the car reaches
destination the potatoes are, ex-
amined and the car is sold on an
estimate made from the poorest
grade that was found in the car, and
the man whose potatoes were well
sorted and granded receives no more
for his than the other man does for
his poorly graded potatoes. Besides
that there is the loss Of all the unfit
potatoes in the car that should have
been left in the field or on the farm,
and now, after having been carried
a great distance at considerable ex-
pense for freight and other handling
and the expense of sacks, ETC., they
are thrown away, or at least they
are a dead loss and an expense bill
so far as the farmer Is concerned.
In addition to that they hurt the
reputation of the dealer they come
from and the community from which
they are shipped.
The Price mechanical sorter as
used by the Blackfoot Potato Grow
ers' association and the perfectly
ventilated and perfectly heated ware
hous<as operated by Mr.. Pendlebury
and his associates, eliminates all
these troubles. The Gull potatoes are
thrown out before the journey begins
and they are sold for local consump-
ton at a very low price and the pur-
chaser knows full we'll that he is to
receive small and knotty potatoes
and some cut and slightly bruised
potatoes. These are disposed of at
about one-third the price Of good
potatoes and answer the purpose very
we'll.
In speaking of the matter Of grad
ing and sorting, Mr.. Pendlebury said
that the very drastic system of in
spection inaugurated here this sea-
son under the direction of the state
farm markets bureau, has the ap-
proval of the men who have the best
potatoes for market. He says 1t is
true that there has been great deal
of complaint among the potato
growers and even some Of the best
potato growers and some who have
been in the habit Of sorting their
potatoes carefully have had to sort
them again, but most of these men
approve of the system and are will
ing to learn and abide by the rulings.
The men who have been very out
spoken in condemning the system Of
Mr.. Pendlebury says, are
the men who have persisted in try
ing to sell potatoes that were unfit
for shipment. He mentioned Karl
Thomas Thomson, Soren
Thomson, P. T. Peterson, Forest
Bales, Carl Nelson, George Reay and
Leo Gushwa among the men who
were bringing in their potatoes in
good condition and doing much to
supply a good product from here. He
says there are many other farmers
of whom the same might be said
and that there are also those who
have been the enemy of good potato
markets and good potato profits be-
cause Of their failure to do the sort
ing and grading properly heretofore.
When the writer visited the ware
house recently he was accompanied
by G. "A. Swope, former merchant
of Pingree, who was in quest Of
big potato to send to a bank in Kan
sas that had been boasting of q Kan
sas potato which weighed three and
pounds. Our farmers
have been bringing in potatoes
much more than that and
Mr.. Swope was looking for a suit