The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-11-23
Marketing Main
Crop of Tubers
New Light Thrown on Old
Questions by Department
of Agriculture.

prepared by the United States Department
of Agricultural
New light Is thrown on old Ques-
lions in the marketing of main-crop
potatoes, in Farmers Bulletin 1917,
Just published by the United States
Department Of Agriculture. The an
swers are based on the combined ex-
perience Of marketing experts in many
sections during recent market seasons.
How, when and where to market DO
tatoes are the practical questions
asked. They include hundreds Of re-
lated queries which growers are ask
ing about the selling end of the potato
business. The replies necessarily make
reference to production and to the
conditions and methods In the great
shipping sections and to harvesting,
grading, packing, loading and ship
ment. They show which are the prln-
cipal markets for nine prominent pro-
ducing regions and what are the con-
d~itiOns, requirements, business meth
DDS and special features in d dozen
great city markets.
Light on Activities.
The bulletin turns q Sldelight on ac-
t~iyities Of the dealers at buying time;
why they buy or wait, and how often
as a class the dealers win or lose as d
result Of the prevailing seasons bust
ness policy. 1t explains what faults
the inspectors usually find in ship
ments OF potatoes and how to avoid
them and save freight on inferior and
unstable stock. Careful grading is
considered one Of the main items on
which success depends.
one Of the most striking conclusions
is shown in barometer style; how
prices tend upward when yield goes
down, how the crop and its marketing
ma be planned according TO the vari-
Gus indications from crop and market
reports. The reader is told where and
how the free reports and summaries
are to be had and how to use them.
Evidently to forecast the market
situation is a matter Of shrewdness
and experience. The outlook for q
day or Il week or q season depends
somewhat on conditions taking shape
In the present. The reader Of crop
and market news soon learns to look
for certain changes under given condi-
tions and in time becomes able to
weigh the market Importance Of what
ever happens In the main producing
sections and in the great consuming
k,a rlynt anntnrc lJn 10 nhln thnn fn
plan his acreage intelligently and to
handle the crop with some regard to
the situation and outlook. The result
benefits all classes in the long run.
When the majority OF buyers and sell
ers are equally informed, there is
little opportunity for a few 10 gain un-
fair advantage. Prices thus tend to
become more uniform in all sections
and from season TO season he ex-
tremes of oversupply or scarcity tend
to become less frequent.
Course CT Prices.
The course of prices is shown to de-
pend chiefly on acreage, total supply,
losses from rot, diseases or freezing,
the demand and the competition, be-
sides occasional changes according to
weather and conditions Of transporter
ton. Among the regular and usual
developments In average seasons is
the rise after digging tine, the up and
down weather-market in winter, and
the spring rise or decline. The stocks
on hand us reported from month TO
month during the winter have Il rela-
ton in the course Of the late market.
An estimated yield OF about four
bushels per capita has usually been
followed by failing prices, while a
yield of around three bushels per cap
ita has often been followed by rise OF
prices. For yields between these
points tbs indications are not clear,
but the general price tendencies dur
ing many such seasons suggest that in
cases OF doubt, the chance Of gain may
be hardly worth the cost and risk Of
long storage.
The bulletin bases good marketing
on careful planning, good handling,
grading and packing, full use Of crop
and market news, and OF the market
ing experience Of other sections. Copy
Of Farmers Bulletin 1917, entitled
Marketing Main Crop Potatoes. may
be obtained free upon request to the
United States Department Of Agricul-
ture, Washington, as long as the sup