The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-04-26
ship MANY SPUDS
FROM This COUNTY
Records Show $50 Cars
From Shelley and 507
From .Blackfoot


ing the potato season of 1919-192(
according to a report issued recent
ly by the department of agriculture
During these months, July to Feb
lruary, 507 cars were shipped fron
Blackfoot, 756 from Shelley, 8
from Aberdeen, ESQ from Firth, 2
from Fort Hall and 5 from Pingree
or total Of 1875 cars shipped from
Bingham county. OF this number
26 cars were shipped to Idaho point
for consumption or storage, the bal
ance going to outside markets.
The summary of the 1919-192'
Idaho white potato season issued b.
the department says:
The many adverse conditions thru
out the growing and well into thu
harvesting seasons indicated tina
the Idaho white potato deal would
not be such good one. There wa.
iscant soil moisture at seeding time
prolonged drought, excessive heat
during the summer and a shortage
of irrigation water with an irregular
supply. However, the general short
age. OF potatoes in. the United States
caused a steady advance in prices
from. the beginning to the end of the
season and generally, growers and
dealers too, expressed satisfaction
with the final results. &
Russets and Rurals are the two
varieties grown in all sections and
taking the state as whole these
are about equally divided in popu-
larity with the grower. The Rus
sets seem to be more susceptible to
diseases and tend to grow rough un-
less conditions are just right, but
they usually bring 10 to % cents a
hundred more than Rurals at load
ing station. Other varieties are
grown, but in very small quanti-
ties.
Probably one of the greatest dan
gers to the Idaho potato industry is
the very inferior seed generally used.
The use of purebred seed is not GUS
tomary and very few growers will
bother" with it. Many growers
sell their best potatoes and select
seed from what is left. Others ac-
tually buy culls, paying little or no
attention to their origin, so they are
cheap. Even the best growers get
their seed from the bins, selecting
as they sort and sack. Is it to be
wondered at that fusarium wilt was
so bad in some localities that entire
fields could not be dug? In other
sections stem rot to the extent of
about 40 per cent of the individual
fields had to be sorted out. Rhizoc-
tonia is also giving serious trouble
in some districts.
No commercial fertilizer is used
in growing Idaho potatoes, but most
of the available barnyard manure is
spread on potato acreage. Straw
spreaders are used by some grow
ers instead of burning the straw.
Several types of automatic planters
are used and machine diggers place
the crop on top of the ground. The
picking is done by hand.
Growers with good storage facil-
tiles plan. to fill their cellars and
storages and sell their surplus di-
rect from the fields. Hauling from
the fields at digging time to be
stored at shipping points or sold, is
general in all section. In some new
er producing sections farm storage
facilities are very limited, while in
others as much as three-quarters of
the crop is stored on the farm.
About half of the late crop was
shipped during October and Novem-
Der. The peak week occurred Octo-
Der 6 to IL with movement of over
800 cars, more than seventy being
billed in one day. The December
and January movements were very
light, but January's total was more
than 200 cars greater than these two
months combined. Approximately
one-twentieth of the crop remained
to be shipped on March 1, making
the total shipments to the end of
February about $500 cars. Last
year to the same date only $500 cars
had moved and shipping continued
until July totaling better than 700
cars.
General advances at both shipping
points and in markets we're record
ed from the opening of the season to
the period of depression January q
to February 10, after which steady
upward movement took place. The
season opened at $3.50 for Rurals
and $1.65 for Russets sacked per
hundred pounds in wagon loads cash
to growers and on March LIST dealers
paid growers $415 for Rurals and
$3.50 for Russets.
In the section north of Pocatel-
10 growers store about three-quar-
ters Of the entire crop. on their
farms. At shipping stations dealers
storage houses and commercial frost
proof storages have a capacity for
approximately 1000 cars. During
the latter part of October practically
all regular potato storages on farms
and at shipping points were filled.
OF the two varieties grown about 70
per cent were Russets and 80 per
n Al ~ ~