Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1923-10-31
WORLD POTATO CROP
IN 1923 IS SHORT ONE
Total Yield VIII Be Slightly Less
Than 1922 Outturn, But
More Than Average


20lo below last year, the eyes of
the world are naturally turning
toward the potato bin.
But the potato situation, says
the Trade Record Of The National
City Bank of New York, is not
after all so serious because it hap
pens that the 1922 crop with which
we are comparing the prospective
outturn Of 1923 was abnormally
large and this shortage of 10 or
20 per cent in the outturn of
America and Europe still leaves
the 1923 crop quite UP to the aver
age Of recent years. In the case
OF the United States the average
crop in the decade ending with
1922 was 378,000,000 bushels, while
the estimate of the Department
of Agriculture is for 100000 in
the calendar wear 1923 Our crop
of 1922, 450,000,000 bushels, was
the biggest ever" In Europe,
I exclusive Of Russia for which no
figures are yet available, the crop
of 1922, according to figures of the
Rome international Institute of
Agriculture, was 4682,000,000 bush
els against a little less than g.
000,000,000 in 1921, and while the
partial reports from the principal
European countries in 1928 show a
slight reduction, it is quite appar-
ent that the European total for
1928 will be materially greater
than that of 1921, even though it
should fall 20 per cent below the
abnormally high year 1922. The
term "abnormally high year" APP
plies only to that section of Eu-
rope for which official figures are
available, for the world is still
lacking information about the
crop Of Russia, which was prior
to the war a very large producer
OF potatoes.
Curious1y, adds the Trade Rec
ord, the birthplace of the potato,
South America, is now one of the
worlds smallest producers of
that important factor in world
food supply. Prior to the war
the worlds biggest producers
were, in the order of magnitude
of production, Germany, Russia,
France, Austria, and the United
States, and even at the present
time despite the postwar bound
airy changes in Europe, the rela-
ton as to the production of the
respective countries stands about
the same, the latest figures putting
the 1922 outturn OF Germany at H.
494.000000 bushels, Poland, 1920
100000, France 465,000,000, the
United States 451,000,000, with no
available figures for Russia for
any year later than 1915. The big
potato production of northern
Europe is due to the fact that it
supplies larger amount of food
per acre than do wheat or corn.
The prc-war potato crop Of Eu-
rope was said to exceed in both
quantity and value the recorded
Whelt crop Of the entire world.
OF course, the worlds potato
crop was materially reduced dur
ing the war in view of the fact
that the chief military activities
occurred in the great potato pro-
ducing section Of Europe which
supplied i'll normal times consid-
erably more than three-fourths of
the potatoes of the world The
worlds record of potato outturn
fell from 5,872,000000 bushels in
1912 to less than 3,000000,000 dur
ing the most active period of the
war, but again crossed the 5
billion line in 1922, the total world
outturn of that year, exclusive of
Russia, having been 81 billion
bushels against the worlds high
est record, that of 1912, 5,573,000,-
600. The worlds potato crop
slightly exceeds, in quantity, that
of any other starch food the high
records of world outturn having
been: potatoes, in 1912, 5,872,000,-
600 bushels; CORN In 1912, 4,37l,-
100000; and wheat, in 1915, 4,l98,
100000 bushels.
Our own production Of potatoes
is almost exclusively for home
consumption. Ne export a few
million bushels. but only a small
percentage of the entire crop, and
our imports are also Comparative
" small. The exports in 1920. the
high record year, were about 4
million bushels, and the imports in
1920 about 8 millions. The ex-
ports go chiefly to Cuba and
smaller quantities to Canada and
Mexico, and the imports arc
chiefly from Canada. Potatoes
as a rule, do not enter largely into
international trade; they arc
chiefly consumed in the country OIL
production.