Evening star., 1922-12-16

was 30 large that tho Depart
mont Of Agriculture warned
\ farmers to send to market oniy
,bA,r hest ,otstoes. All small or rough
tubers were to be sorted out ana kept
on the farm for stock feed. or soid 70 d
local starch factory. This warning WAS
given in order to avoid Cutting the re-
tall market, with consequent slump IN
nrice and a great wastage in re-
jected potatoes.
Americans consume on an average
80 bushels Of potatoes a year per
CAPITA, but the crop this year amount
ed to an average of four bushels ehu
either an increased export market
must be found or there must be r1sso
selection to prevent waste and loss'
So abundant is the supply that po-
4aso raisers have been unable to sell
their crops at more than 30 cents anu
in some localities the farmers were
fortunate IL they got more than -
cents q bushel. The retailefs neTe
in washington have s set the d.adnnfs pr,fs to to
81 40 a bushel when bought by the
pound. BY the bushel. they oner 70
sell at s1.6o. and even at the bushsI
price, the spread exceeds $l.3o, OF 10"
per cent.
While the farm bloc in Congress
in worrying over legislation to enable
the farmer to borrow more freely IL
might be a fine idea to evolve meth
ods by which the farmer would take
from the retailer better share than
one-sfxth Of what his food products
cost the consumer: then he Will not
need to borrow so much. Out OF
years supply of potatoes. for a tahi'is
| of fve-sixteen bushels-the farmer
gets. at q cents. total Of 1886: the
consumer pays $3.50 and the rail
roads and middlemen take the pa, :
ance-S25.44. This is concrete H.
lust ration OF what ails farming IN
AMERICA, and explains why 1arness
are aha ndoning their acres ana resn
ing 10 the cities for wages UT 30 ~
$12 day.
rhis dep,orable situation does not
.rrec. the farmer half SO much as IL
does city prosperity. for farmers nav
! their own recourse, as above inoi-
Gated. by abandoning an unprohtao'e
!. bus;ness Eut what will happen 10
! the pr;ce of food when they quit pro-
ducine il? Not only Will the ie"
| nroducers who are left on the iar"s
get better prices. but. what is lar
[ nora serious. food will become SO
| scarce that spccuiatcrs WIZ eas:iy
! surpass the present spread OF 4SS per
| cent gross profit-it is more hkci! 10
J 90 to 900 per cent spread OF mort
! !: :. :: ::
p; What is the remedy? Cooperation
! aud motor truck marketing, from the
| ,r,dvccr directly to The &C. 81 mer,
! y.itnout any middlcmen. eXcep' inc
fa-,ners' own representatives. mo-
tor truck left Columbus. ohio, with
! load of two tons or more last Mon
day morning ard delivered it's cargo
! in Washington at O'Clock Wcdnes-
] day and the driver explained tina,
| they would lave arrived six hours
! earlier if their motor had not FROZEN
; and burst while crossing the noun
. .ains. Service of that kind Is more
! than mere feeder to railroads. u
/,
/ and of cytortion in high cos; OF living.
! Too many children have never seen
Santa Claus after he had used has
safety razor and shaved on his long.
old ia shioned beard. II the children
! will look at. photographs of their
great-grandfathers, they will see Ma
) gt
boards as TIE Santa Claus of the de-
i partment stores docI today. But
when he comes down the chimnc )
this year, or helps distribute presents
/ from the Christmas tree, he is GO
/: ing to be dressed w and have fine
I, clean shave. know. because ] heard
| him talking with Gcorfe Watson
| chief OF the Washington fire depart
! ment. abont his narrow escape from
| being burned alive last Christmas
when he was reaching up among the
little candies on Johnny Junpup's
/ Christmas tree" and his uncut board
got into the fame ald-wh!h.-i;
! was ali ablaze. SO that II even
scorched h.s shaggy eyebrows and Il
! ruined Johnny's fine fur cap which
hunr high on the tree.
10 Chief Watson laughed at him for
! being so old ia shioned as to wear a
! beard. for boards are out of style. and
+, when Santa said that perhaps his lit
! tie friends would not recognize mn,
! with a shaved chin. Chief Watson
suggested that he might put on an
a asbestos false beard for the Christmas
! tree exercises. but il he wore real
! hair beard the chief threatened to
arrest him as an i-n-c-e-n-d-i-a-r
And an incendiary gets sent to the
nenitentiary for so long that maybe
! his kids would be all grownups be-
| fore he ever got around to them
! again.