The log cabin Democrat., 1921-08-15
'FAVORS BUILDING OF POTATO HOUSE COUNTY AGENT HAS PLAN Marketing Agent Not Profitable With High Freight Express Rates
 Now in Effect.

County Agent T. M. Williams in a statement given the Log Cabin Demo- crat before his departure for Fayette- vile today, answered the question why cooperative shipments of livestock are not being maintained this year. MT. Williams also expressed himself ia favor of the erection of a sweet pota to house as other communities have found the marketing of 'spuds" to be more profitable than the sale of small fruits even in carload lots.
 Hog shipments are not possible this year, Mir. Williams said, for the req son that Faulkner county hogs when fattened and killed this fall are not enough to supply the population with meat until crops are we'll started. He thinks that for this reason, it would not be wise to ship out what hogs the county has and then depend upon brought on meat. Cattle bring eX- tremely low prices at East St. Louis or other marketing centers now, and it would require good COW to bring a sufficient amount to pay freight to East St. Louis.
 Results in other cities of Arkansas argue against the marketing of melons cantaloupes and other small truck crops while express and freight rates are so high, the county agent said in answer to the question why the sur plus of melons in the county has not been shipped and sold comparatively.
 He quotes the following dispatch from Hope to the Arkansas Gazette:
 Hope, August II. = Hampstead county farmers, who gave the bulk of their small truck crops to the express company to have them moved to the
 market centers, are faring but little better with their melon and canta-
 loupe crops because of the high freight rates. One car load of canta- loupes, shipped to Chicago. sold foa S417.50.- The freight charges and commission for handling the ear total- ed S371.S6, leaving S45.74 net to the grower. Another car load of canta- loupes shipped to Cincinnati, broueh, S44>.6o with freight charges S355.9-. leaving the growers S92.
 Compared with this, good revenus has been derived from the sale Of sweet potatoes. cured and stored in potato curing houses. which are gain ing in number all over the south Hampstead county has shipped g car load of cured potatoes. bringing Sl.50 per bushel. Al digging time. these same potatoes would have brought from 50 70 60 cents per bushel. Ac- cordlng 70 the Southern Rurahst, po- tatoes taken from this curing house showed only ? per cent damage. In Jefferson county, Kentucky, 800 bush els were cured and stored and then shipped to Louisville, bringing S1.37- 1-2. This lot lost only l per cent from storage. St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. has curing house in which were stored 1,10G bushels of potatoes. The entire lot was sold at $4.50 per barrel, in comparison with a farmer who failed 70 provide curing house and could not get as much as $3 per barrel.
 MT. Williams is anxious to hear the opinion of farmers and business men of this county on the project for curing house or curing houses at diff terent points. The subject has al- ready been discussed at some length. Either large house could be erected at Conway to care for the entire out put, or smaller houses could be erect ed at other places convenient to the growers and for shipping. EXperi- ence has proved that sweet potatoes bring very little when placed on the market in the early fall months, when the supply is more than the demand. As the product is taken up, however, the price mounts and cured sweet potatoes bring revenue which makes their cultivation and storage by the