The Nevada County picayune., 1921-11-10

oSrs
 The sweet potato as q commercial farm crop iS assuming important pro portions in the south, and particularly in Arkansas. The production has been vastly increased during the last few years, while the demand. or consump- tion has made. if anything, a large increase relatively, than the produc- tion. When prices of all other farm commodities fell off to such a large extent last fall. the sweet potato held
 its own, and, even yet, the prices to= day show only small decrease from this time year ago. This K eonsid- cred remarkable, ill view of the world wide depression in prices of all kinds of commodities. If simply shows that the sweet potato k rapidly coming to be universally esteemed as an article of food. This applies especially to the kiln-dried potato from the south as
 recently developed by the building of the modern kiln-drying plant, CT potato curing house.
 The yield of sweet potatoes ill Ar kansas this year k placed at nearly six million bushels. almost double that of last year This of course indi- catcs the total yield, but, as q matter of course not more than one-third of this amount will be cured. and sent to market The yield i'll the United States for this season iS estimated at something like 1lI0S6.0oO bushels. or inst Il little more than one bHshel for each iHhabitant of the country. but. when we eonsider#the fact that fully 20 per cent of this amount will he lost from decay and another 70 per cent fed to live stock i'll the south, il will he seen that considerably less than one bushel will be available for every person in the United States.
 The sweet potato when harvested green in the fall is a perishable com modity, not so perishable, of course. as the irish potato, but. il will not keep in condition fit for sale more than a few weeks at best. In the past if has been the practice in the south to try keeping potatoes by almost every conceivable method or device, with re- Sultng heavy losses. and at best very poor product found it's way into the markets which retared the popularity of the southern sweet potato, as it could not be placed on the markets in an attractive and appetizing con dtion.
 With the development of the modern curing and storage plant. which has been brought about very largely by the investigations and scientific cEperi- Iments of the United S.ateS pemHt memt of Agriculture through aur EN pertinent Stations during tho paSt twenty years, and HOW thorouGhly#pei- fcctcd and in operation over almost the entire south. ,ae sweet potato ill dustrv has been completely reyoiution ized and placed on Il rational basis. with the result that toddv the south eln sweet potato k regarded Wiih high favor t4rgsnhout the entire eonlry and il has been transformed from pcrishable commodity to staple and non perishable product.
 The sweet tpotato curing house. like other things, has become standard izcdt' largely through the work of the l nited States Department oI Agricu- me. In the beginning of the develop mcnt of the kiln-dlying and storage plant. like many other things, il was mostly an individual proposition, and mosl of the houses were very small. according 10 individual needs. and. the style. CT method of construction. varied widely. Today. il has developed into d large commercial proposition, aud. while we still have the small farm #,im-dr!ins potato house. vel. there are to be found large commercial hoG~c~ clecled at convenient shipping points. With q capacity varying from 5000 to 25,oo0 bushels Most ot these Hoa~eS are owned and operated jointly /. hy#a. number of growers. hut many are privately managed.
 TGc= =eo=oremlively owned and oper= atcg house. wh,Ie giving inc grower control of his crop from harvest to marketing. also insure~ for tae sroWef