Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-01
Capitalizing on Our Georgia
Sweet POfatOPS

n
w. T. w, Macon, Ga, writes;
We have the ideal state for grow
ing sweet potatoes and while we
do not seem to have the ideal
variety for pleasing most of the
large markets, yet it has wonder
full possibilities. I believe our
main trouble is in grading and
packing. How would the fol
lowing line of work help to rem
edy the situations:
] understand that sweet po'
tatoes make good cattle and
hog feed. If this Is true, if the
farmer, when he harvests his
crop, would carefully pick out
the strictly perfect potatoes and
put them in crates for the cur
ing house, he would then have
stock that would sell. If the
market was so the selling price
would make him money in Janu-
airy, he could SELL but if the mar
llet was so low it would not pay
him to ship, he would be out
very little and could still feed
it to the stock In other words,
use the selling end as by-prod-
uct and not as the main reason
for planting.
In packing cars for shipment
to market, sweet potatoes should
be handled just like peaches,
oranges or tomatoes. Every po-
tato should be picked up care
fully and placed in the container
close to the other potato from
the bottom of the package to the
10 ~
to be sure that the package is
tight so that on arrival at mar
ket the potatoes are in the same
position as the day they were
shipped.
There is no reason why Georgia
should not become a leading state
as a producer Of choice sweet po-
tatoes. I am satisfied that we can
grow any desirable strain Of this
crop to commercial perfection pro.
vided we quit making it side-issue
and give it the pIace it really de-
serves in our agricultural economy
No state or community has ever
succeeded in any enterprise until II
made the particular thing they had
in mind to do a specialized industry.
We have made no special study of
the sweet potato on a statewide
basis as yet, nor have we made any
marked improvement in our methods
Of marketing. Your experience
shows that our growers are still
of the Importance of
grading sweet potatoes AS long as
hey continue to evidence this atti-
-ude, little progress will be made in
he potato industry. 1t Is strange,
indeed, that our people cannot be
to understand and appre-
,iate this point at its face value. If
hey were to select out the crop in
he manner you have suggested, the
80 to 60 per cent they sold as fancy
sweet potatoes would bring them
more than the whole crop now brings
n the way in which many people
want to handle it. Moreover, the
equation of the state as a pro-
lucer Of fancy sweet potatoes would
DON be established and there would
% a much greater demand for this
food crop. The sweet po-
alto ought to be one of our main
crops, and 1 am certain we here at
he college are doing everything we
know how to drive this fact home
% our folks.
Your suggestion is welI-taken that
the residue Of the sweet potato crop,
which Is not marketable, can be used
as a supplement food for cattle and
hogs. A limited amount Of sweet
potatoes can even be fed to horses
and mules with advantage. This
crop can be fed to dairy cows as sue
cessfully as other root crops. Sweet
potatoes are just as valuable as a
source Of succulent roughage for
beef cattle as any other Of the root
crops commonly grown throughout
the country. On the small farm,
sweet potatoes may be chopped up
and mixed with dry roughage and
so made to take the place Of silage
with a desirable degree Of accepta.
bility. Sweet potatoes can be grazed
down by hogs with advantage and
hence small potatoes remaining or
the farm can be fed to this class
Of animals with success.
An acre Of sweet potatoes should
be sufficient to carry eight to ter